THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


7 


V^ 


x.^ 


KLONDIKE 

AND  THE  YUKON  COUNTRY 


A  DESCRIPTION  OF  OUR 

ALASKAN  LAND  OF  GOLD 

FROM  THE  I,ATEST  OFFICIAI,  AND  SCIENTIFIC  SOURCES 
AND  PERSONAI,  OBSERVATION 


L.    A.    COOLIDGE 

With  a  Chapter  by  JOHN  F.  PRATT 

CHIEF  OF  THE  AI,ASKAN  BOUNDARY  EXPEDITION  OF  1894 

NEIV  MAPS  AND  PHOTOGRAPHIC  ILLUSTRA  7 IONS 
J* 

PHILADELPHIA 

HENRY   ALTEMUS 
1897 


Copyrighted  by  Henry  Altcmus,  of  Philadelphia,  in  the  State  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, A.  D.  iSgy,  in  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-first  Year  of 
the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America. 


Henry  Altemus,  Manufacturer, 
philadelphia. 


F 
cm, 


INTRODUCTION 


The  object  of  this  book  is  to  furnish  the  latest 
authentic  information  concerning  a  portion  of 
our  country  which  until  very  recently  has  been  lit- 
tle thought  of;  but  which  is  now  the  magnet  for 
many  minds.  The  author  wishes  to  acknowledge 
his  indebtedness  to  officers  of  the  U.  S.  Coast 
and  Geodetic  Survey,  and  the  U.  S.  Geological 
Survey  for  helpful  suggestions  and  for  recitals  of 
personal  experience.  He  is  especially  under 
obligation  to  Mr.  John  F.  Pratt,  of  the  Coast 
and  Geodetic  Survey,  whose  service  as  Chief  of 
the  Alaskan  Boundary  Expedition  of  1894  gives 
a  peculiar  interest  and  value  to  the  chapter 
kindly  contributed  by  him. 


ir>', 


CONTENTS. 


New  Lands  of  Gold 7 

Klondike  and  Yukon  Diggings 22 

Seeking  the  Pot  of  Gold 37 

Life  in  Camp 63 

Mining  Experts  and  Scientists 78 

Placer  Mining  and  Hydraulics 94 

Alaska no 

Quartz  Mining  in  Southeastern  Alaska  .    .    ,    .132 

The  Wonderful  Yukon  Country 144 

The  Boundary  Dispute 175 

Gold  Production  of  the  World 182 

Our   Northwestern    Possessions, 185 

Laws  Governing  the  Location  of  Claims  .    .    .194 
Climate    of  Alaska 208 


KLONDIKE 


CHAPTER  I. 


NEW  LANDS  OF  GOLD. 

On  Wednesday,  July  '14th,  1897,  the  little 
steamer  Excelsior  arrived  in  the  harbor  of  San 
Francisco  with  forty  miners  on  board,  each  one 
of  whom  had  brought  with  him  from  the  ice- 
bound interior  of  Alaska  a  fortune  in  gold.  From 
that  day  may  be  said  to  date  the  Klondike  gold 
craze  which  already  rivals  in  extent  the  three 
other  great  gold  crazes  of  the  century,  California 
in  1849,  Australia  in  1851  and  South  Africa  in 
1890.  Already  the  amount  known  to  have  been 
brought  back  by  the  returning  miners  exceeds 
$1,000,000,  and  nearly  $3,000,000  more  is  said  to 
be  on  the  way.  It  is  estimated  by  some  experts 
that  before  the  full  returns  come  in  it  will  be 


8  KLONDIKE. 

found  the  total  output  of  the  Alaskan  mines  has 
been  $8,000,000.  California  yielded  $60,000,000 
five  years  after  Marshall's  discovery,  and  all  from 
place  diggings,  as  are  the  diggings  in  the  Klon- 
dike region;  but  the  facilities  for  mining  in  Cali- 
fornia, with  its  salubrious  climate,  its  compara- 
tive nearness  to  civilization,  its  all-year-round 
conveniences,  were  infinitely  superior  to  the  fa- 
cilities in  the  Yukon  Basin,  where  winter  lasts 
for  ten  months  in  the  year,  and  where  the  ther- 
mometer drops  to  72  degrees  below  zero  in  the 
winter  and  climbs  to  120  degrees  above  zero  in 
the  summer,  and  where  the  nearness  of  the  Arctic 
circle  practically  divides  the  year  into  one  long 
day  and  one  long  night,  each  extending  over  a 
period  of  six  months. 

When  millions  of  gold  can  be  taken  out  in  a 
single  year  under  all  these  disadvantages  of  cli- 
mate by  laborers  working  with  the  most  primi- 
tive implements  of  mining  life  it  is  difficidt  to 
conceive  of  the  opulence  of  a  soil  whose  grudging 
tribute  to  the  energy  of  the  modern  argonaut  is 
so  fabulous  in  extent. 

These  forty  men  who  came  down  on  the  Ex- 
celsior from  the  port  of  St.  Michael,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Yukon,  had  among  them  over  half 


NEW  LANDS  OF  GOLD.  9 

a  million  dollars  in  gold  dust,  ranging  in  size 
from  a  hazel  nut  to  fine  bird  shot  and  kernels 
of  sand.  All  of  them  were  penniless,  or  nearly 
so,  when  they  left  the  United  States,  some  of 
them  having  taken  their  departure  within  a  year, 
others  having  been  prospecting  on  the  fields 
alongthe  branches  of  the  Upper  Yukon  for  several 
years.  They  brought  back  fortunes  ranging  from 
$5000  to  $90,000  and  the  most  extraordinary  tales 
of  their  experience  in  the  mining  countries.  Their 
descriptions  of  the  vast  amounts  of  gold  still  re- 
maining in  the  regions  from  which  they  had 
come  were  so  tempered  with  cautions  and  warn- 
ings against  a  mad  rush  for  the  new  fields  that 
tales  which  otherwise  might  have  been  deemed 
improbable  gained  credence  through  their  very 
conservatism.  But  whatever  might  be  thought 
of  the  tales,  there  was  no  disputing  the  tangible 
fact  of  the  yellow  metal  which  was  laid  down  in 
Selby's  smelting  works  at  San  Francisco,  and 
when  a  second  ship,  the  Portland,  from  St.  Mi- 
chael, arrived  at  Seattle,  three  days  later,  with 
mOre  miners  aboard  and  $700,000  in  bullion,  it 
was  as  if  a  spark  had  set  afire  the  enthusiasm  for 
hunting  gold  which  had  been  lying  dormant 
since  the  days  of  the  Argonauts  of  1849.    There 


10  KLONDIKE. 

have  been  few  scenes  in  mining  history  more 
striking  than  that  which  was  enacted  when  the 
men  landed  from  the  Excelsior,  weather  beaten, 
roughly  dressed,  with  scraggly  beards  and  fur- 
rowed cheeks,  and  marching  straight  to  the 
smelting  works,  proceeded  to  produce  bags  of 
gold,  dirty  and  worn,  containing  thousands  of 
dollars  in  the  precious  metal. 

As  fast  as  the  bags  were  weighed  they  were 
ripped  open  with  a  knife  and  the  contents  were 
allowed  to  scatter  over  the  counter;  and  then 
some  of  the  miners  produced  from  bundles  and 
coat  pockets  gold  dust  in  all  sorts  of  queer  re- 
ceptacles, such  as  fruit  jars  and  jelly  tumblers, 
and  even  writing  paper,  carefully  secured  with 
twine.  No  wonder  the  spectotors  looked  on  with 
fascinated  amazement.  No  wonder  the  strange 
news  spread  like  wildfire.  The  gold  fever  of  1897 
had  begun  to  burn. 

These  miners  brought  the  news  that  the  new 
Eldorado  was  situated  on  the  Klondike  River, 
nearly  two  thousand  miles  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Yukon,  just  escaping  the  Arctic  circle  by  a 
bare  250  miles,  and  situated  in  Canadian  terri- 
tory, a  meagre  140  miles  east  of  the  141st  degree 
of  longitude,  which  constitutes  the  boundary  be- 
tween Alaska  and  British  America. 


NEW  LANDS  OF  GOLD.  11 

They  told,  too,  of  the  terrible  hardship 
through  which  they  had  gone  in  order  to  reach 
these  marvelous  gold  fields  and  uncover  their 
hidden  wealth.  Joseph  Ladue,  who  left  Platts- 
burg,  N.  Y.,  a  few  years  ago,  an  impecunious 
farm  hand,  too  poor  to  marry  the  woman  of  his 
choice,  described  how  he  had  forced  his  way 
into  the  new  diggings,  established  the  city  of 
Dawson,  which  is  the  metropolis  of  the  gold  re- 
gion, and  come  back  with  thousands  of  dollars 
in  hand  and  millions  in  prospect.  But  his  most 
emphatic  words  were  words  of  warning  against 
those  who  would  rush  madly  to  the  new  field 
without  considering  the  hardships  they  would 
have  to  undergo.  Starvation  and  want,  he  said, 
would  be  the  lot  of  those  who  ventured  into  the 
new  Eldorado  without  a  supply  of  provisions 
sufficient  to  last  for  months,  and  he  said  that 
those  who  ventured  to  leave  for  the  North  as 
late  as  August  i  were  wasting  their  time,  be- 
sides subjecting  themselves  to  needless  peril,  for 
by  the  time  tney  had  traversed  the  long  stretch 
of  inhospitable  country  they  would  find  winter 
setting  in  with  Arctic  vigor  and  they  would  be 
shut  up  in  an  ice-bound  region  hundreds  of  miles 
from  telegraph  or  postofifice,  a  prey  to  starva- 
tion and  cold. 


12  KLONDIKE. 

Dawson  City,  which  had  sprung  up  in  an  Arc- 
tic night,  was  situated,  they  said,  near  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Klondike  and  Yukon  Rivers,  had  a 
population  when  the  miners  left  of  3,500,  w'as 
laid  out  on  modern  lines  with  sixty-foot  avenues 
and  fifty-foot  streets  and  had  all  the  ambitious 
scope  of  a  bonanza  town  with  a  few  score  log 
cabins  and  innumerable  tents. 

While  the  voyagers  on  the  Excelsior  were  still 
telling  their  marvelous  stories  in  San  Francisco 
fuel  was  added  to  the  fire  by  the  arrival  at  Seattle 
of  the  steamer  Portland,  also  straight  from  St. 
Michael,  with  sixty  miners  aboard  and  over 
$700,000  in  gold.  The  excitement  aroused  by 
the  arrival  of  the  Portland  surpassed  even  that 
of  the  earlier  arrival,  and  it  had  hardly  touched 
the  wharf  before  hundreds  of  men  in  Seattle 
were  crowding  over  one  another  to  get  an  op- 
portunity to  board  her  for  her  return  trip  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Yukon. 

These  miners  had  been  hunting  for  gold  in 
the  Yukon  country  for  years.  Some  of  them 
had  found  it  in  generous  quantities  lying  in  the 
streams  and  in  the  beds  of  creeks  flowing  into 
the  Yukon  just  west  of  the  spot  where  the  river 
crosses  the  boundary  between  Alaska  and  Brit- 


NEW  LANDS  OF  GOLD.  13 

ish  America — along  Forty-mile  Creek,  Sixty- 
mile  Creek  and  Birch  Creek.  They  would  have 
continued  digging  along  these  creeks  for  months 
longer  content  with  the  moderate  but  certain  re- 
turns of  their  labors  had  it  not  been  for  the  sud- 
den discovery  on  the  Klondike  pouring  into  the 
Yukon  over  on  the  British  side,  of  gold  nug- 
gets so  large  and  handily  found  that,  carried 
away  with  the  news,  they  pulled  up  stakes  and 
abandoned  in  a  day  the  claims  upon  which  they 
had  been  toiling  for  months.  Circle  City,  the 
largest  camp  in  the  Yukon  district,  was  desert- 
ed over  night,  and  Dawson  City,  at  the  junction 
of  the  Klondike  and  the  Yukon,  sprang  into  be- 
ing in  a  day.  This  was  a  year  ago,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  short  summer  season.  The  gold 
the  returning  miners  brought  to  San  Francisco 
and  Seattle  was  the  product  of  that  summer's 
pickings.  They  worked  the  Klondike  and  the 
banks  of  two  creeks  flowing  into  it,  which  they 
called  appropriately  the  Eldorado  and  the  Bo- 
nanza, until  winter  shut  in  on  them,  and  for  nine 
months  of  the  cheerless  Arctic  season  they  lay 
huddled  over  their  gold,  until  the  breaking  up 
of  the  ice  in  the  following  June  gave  them  their 
first   chance   to    escape   back   home   with   their 


14  KLONDIKE. 

treasure.  TTiey  had  been  shut  out  from  the 
world  for  nine  months  as  completely  as  if  they 
had  been  dead.  They  did  not  even  know  the 
result  of  the  election  for  President.  They  were 
strangers  in  their  own  country. 

The  Portus  B.  Weare  is  a  little  steamer,  own- 
ed by  a  transportation  company,  which  makes 
the  trip  up  and  down  the  Yukon  three  or  four 
times  every  summer,  and  on  this  boat  the  miners 
loaded  their  gold  and  left  their  fortune-banks 
behind.  They  steamed  2000  miles  down  the 
river  to  the  diminutive  port  of  St.  Michael,  on 
the  coast  of  Behring  Sea,  there  to  take  passage 
on  steamers  bound  for  home. 

St.  Michael  is  situated  on  an  island  ninety 
miles  north  of  the  mouth  of  the  Yukon.  It  is 
the  most  important  station  of  the  coast  for  all 
the  Yukon  region,  and,  in  fact,  the  only  one  so 
far  as  freight  and  supplies  are  concerned.  On 
June  27,  at  noon,  the  Portus  B.  Weare,  the  first 
passenger  steamer  to  arrive  from  up  the  river, 
came  steaming  around  the  low  headland  and 
drowned  the  frantic  cheering  of  the  crowds  on 
the  two  boats  lying  there  with  its  hoarse  whistle. 
The  Portland  and  Excelsior,  drawing  in  excess 
of  nineteen  feet  of  water,  were  obliged  to  lie  out 


NEW  LANDS  OF  GOLD.  15 

a  mile  or  more  from  shore,  but  the  Weare,  built 
for  river  traffic  and  drawing  only  a  few  feet,  was 
enabled  to  steam  up  the  shallow  harbor  and 
touch  the  dock.  As  she  steamed  near,  friends 
who  had  not  met  in  months  or  years  greeted  one 
another  from  deck  to  deck,  and  wives  and  chil- 
dren who  had  come  to  meet  fathers  and  hus- 
bands, frantically  threw  kisses  and  wept  and 
laughed  by  turns.  A  more  exciting  throng  was 
never  seen. 

That  the  Weare  brought  good  news  was  evi- 
dent. Husbands,  fathers  and  friends  held  up 
nuggets  of  glittering  gold  and  bags  of  it  before 
the  eyes  of  those  aboard  the  Portland,  and  the 
news  was  shouted  across  that  a  great  strike  had 
been  made.  "Circle  City  is  busted!"  "Only 
three  white  men  left  in  it!"  "The  Klondike  is 
the  richest  mining  region  on  earth  to-day!" 
"Hurrah  for  the  new  proposition!"  "Circle  City 
is  the  silent  city!"  These  and  kindred  shouts 
rent  the  air.  There  was  as  great  desire  on  the 
Portland  to  hear  the  news  from  up  the  river  as 
there  had  been  at  St.  Michael  to  hear  from 
the  outer  world. 

Those  who  were  first  to  board  the  boat  soon 
heard  enough  to  convince  them  that  on  the  El- 


16  KLONDIKE. 

dorado  and  Bonanza  Cheeks,  branches  of  the 
Klondike,  the  richest  strike  in  all  American  min- 
ing history,  had  been  made.  All  the  people  knew 
was  that  gold  had  been  found  in  such  quantities 
that  it  seemed  beyond  belief;  that  all  who  went 
into  the  streams  mentioned  found  gold,  and  that 
most  of  them  or  their  partners  were  coming  out 
and  had  gold  to  show.  The  Weare  brought  down 
on  her  first  trip  over  $1,000,000  .  Many  of  the 
men  would  not  talk,  but,  with  grips,  bags,  strong 
boxes,  belts,  tin  tomato  cans  and  other  odd  re- 
ceptacles filled  with  the  glittering  metal,  sat  on 
guard  in  their  4x6  staterooms. 

The  purser  was  treasurer  of  the  smaller  hold- 
ers. For  Stanley  and  Worden  he  had  $20,000; 
R.  McNulty,  $20,000;  Henry  Anderson,  $20,000; 
C.  D.  Myers,  $6000;  T.  Moran,  $13,000;  Joe  Coz- 
lies,  $17,000;  N.  E.  Pickett,  $20,000;  Victor  Lord, 
$3500;  C.  A.  Brannon,  $7000;  Albert  Gray, 
$6000;  N.  Murcer,  $15,000;  John  R.  Mofifett, 
$9000;  C.  H.  Loveland,  $8500*  J.  J.  Hatterman, 
$12,500.  Other  men  had  sums  far  in  excess  of 
these,  and,  while  some  of  them  had  given  the  pur- 
ser from  $5000  to  $20,000  each  to  keep  for  them, 
retaining  from  $30,000  to  $100,000  themselves, 
others  had  retained  all.     Some  of  the  following: 


NEW  LANDS  OF  GOLD.  17 

are  among  those  who  had  treasure  with  the  purs- 
er: 

Clarence  Berry,  $110,000;  Henry  Anderson, 
$65,000;  WilHam  Stanley,  $112,000;  J.  Clements, 
$50,000;  Frank  Keelcr,  $50,000;  T.  J.  Kelly,  $33,- 
000.  The  following-  men  had  from  $30,000  to 
$100,000  each:  Frank  Phiscater,  Nat  Hall,  A. 
McKenzie,  B.  F.  Purcell,  O.  Finstead,  Charles 
Silverlock,  Jeremiah  Johnson,  Pete  Copeland, 
C.  E.  Myers,  F.  Bellinger,  R.  H.  Blake,  Joe  Bur- 
goyne,  William  Sims,  John  J.  MofTatt,  Joe  De- 
bosher,  Fred  Tabler,  William  Sloan,  C.  H.  Love- 
land,  N.  Mercer,  Charles  Emcher,  Harry  Oleson, 
Charles  Anderson,  Henry  Plato,  Honora  Gotthier 
and  John  Williamson. 

Most  of  the  sixty  passengers  aboard  the  Weare, 
which  started  from  winter  quarters  after  the  ice 
started  in  the  Yukon,  had  been  living  on  beans, 
bacon  and  bread  or  hard  tack  for  from  six 
months  to  a  year,  some  longer.  The  little  agency 
store  at  St.  Michael  was  besieged  for  bottled  ci- 
der, canned  pineapples,  apricots,  cherries,  or  any- 
thing tart,  and  at  a  dollar  a  bottle  cider  went  like 
mad.  They  were  eager  for  raw  turnips,  and  even 
for  potatoes,  and  when  a  crate  of  onions  was  sent 
2 


18  KLONDIKE. 

over  to  the  Weare  from  the  Portland  there  was  al- 
most a  riot  to  get  at  them. 

The  richest  gold  strike  the  world  has  ever 
known  was  made  in  the  Klondike  region  last 
Aug-ust  and  September,  but  the  news  did  not  get 
€ven  to  Circle  City  until  December  15,  when  there 
was  a  stampede.  Circle  City  was  deserted.  But 
three  white  men  and  several  Indians  and  women 
came  out  to  greet  the  returning  miners  as  they 
came  down  stream. 

George  Carmack  made  the  first  great  strike  on 
Bonanza  Creek  August  12,  and  on  August  19 
'even  claims  were  filed  in  that  region.  Word 
yot  to  Forty  Mile  and  Circle  City,  but  the  news 
»vas  looked  on  as  a  grub-stake  rumor. 

December  15,  however,  authentic  news  was 
:arried  to  Circle  City  by  J.  M.  Wilson,  of  the 
Alaska  Commercial  Company,  and  Thomas 
3'Brien,  a  trader.  They  carried  not  only  news, 
but  prospects,  and  the  stampede  was  on.  Those 
who  made  the  300-mile  journey  the  quickest 
truck  it  the  richest.  Of  all  the  200  claims  staked 
3Ut  of  the  Bonanza  and  Eldorado  it  is  said  not 
one  proved  a  blank,  and  it  was  learned  as  the 
Weare  left  the  diggings  that  equally  rich  finds 
had  been  made  on  June  6  to  10  on  Dominion 


NEW  LANDS  OF  GOLD.  19 

Creek.  This  last  creek  heads  at  Hunker  Creek 
and  runs  into  Indian  Creek,  and  both  run  into 
the  Klondike.  Three  hundred  claims  have  al- 
ready been  staked  out  on  this  Indian  Creek,  and 
the  surface  indications  show  that  they  are  as  rich 
as  any  of  the  others. 

The  largest  nugget  yet  found  was  picked  out 
by  Burt  Hudson  on  Claim  Six  of  the  Bonanza, 
and  is  worth  a  little  over  $250.  The  next  largest 
was  found  by  J.  Clements,  and  was  worth  $231. 
The  last  four  pans  Clements  took  out  ran  $2000, 
or  on  an  average  of  $500  each,  and  one  of  them 
went  $775.  Bigger  pockets  have  been  struck  in 
the  Caribou  region  and  in  California,  but  no 
where  else  on  eaith  have  men  picked  up  so  much 
gold  in  so  short  a  time.  A  young  man  named 
Beecher  came  down  a-foot  and  by  dog  sledge, 
starting  out  early  in  March.  He  brought  $12,000 
to  $15,000  with  him.  He  was  purser  of  the 
Weare  last  summer,  and  went  in  after  the  close 
of  navigation  in  October  or  September.  About 
December  15  he  got  a  chance  to  work  a  shift  on 
shares,  and  in  sixty  days  made  his  stake,  which 
was  about  $40,000.  Gold  is  in  circulation  in 
Dawson  in  fabulous  amounts.  Saloons  take  in 
$3000  to  $4000  each  per  night.     Men  who  have 


20  KLONDIKE. 

been  in  all  parts  of  the  world  where  gold  is  mined 
say  they  never  saw  such  quantities  taken  in  so 
short  a  time. 

At  least  $2,500,000  has  been  taken  from  the 
ground  on  the  British  side  within  the  past  year, 
and  about  $1,000,000  from  the  American  side. 
The  diggings  around  Circle  City  and  in  the  older 
places  are  rich. 

There  was  one  woman  in  the  throng  of  miners 
who  came  from  the  Yukon  on  the  steamer  Port- 
land. This  was  Mrs.  J.  S.  Lippy,  the  wife  of 
Prof.  Lippy,  who  a  year  or  two  ago  was  secre- 
tary of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  at  Seattle  and  who 
brought  back  with  him  $85,000  in  gold.  Mrs. 
Lippy  was  the  first  white  woman  on  the  creek 
and  the  only  one  in  her  camp,  but  she  was  not 
the  first  white  woman  to  cross  the  divide.  Nine 
or  ten  others  were  at  Forty-mile  Creek. 

Lippy  went  to  the  gold  fields  with  hardly  a 
grub  stake.  He  believes  his  claim  is  worth  $350,- 
000.     It  may  be  worth  millions. 

Joseph  Ladue,  formerly  of  Binghamton,  N. 
Y.,  was  a  farm  hand  before  he  went  to  Alaska. 
He  struck  it  rich  and  is  the  owner  of  the  town 
site  of  Dawson  City.  He  counts  himself  a  mil- 
lionaire.    He  went  to  the  Northwestern  country 


NEW  LANDS  OF  GOLD.  21 

first  in  1892  and  has  been  there  most  of  the  time 
since.  He  left  Dawson  with  a  population  of  3500. 
He  was  the  first  man  to  run  a  saw  mill  in  Alaska, 
and  it  was  a  paying  investment,  although  it  was 
almost  impossible  to  get  anybody  to  run  it.  He 
paid  men  as  high  as  $15  a  day  to  work  for  him. 
The  cheapest  lumber  he  ever  sold  brought  $100 
per  thousand,  and  w^hen  planed  double  that 
amount.  Mr.  Ladue,  since  his  return,  has  said 
that  already  eight  hundred  claims  are  staked 
within  a  radius  of  twenty  miles  of  Dawson.  There 
is  jumping  of  claims.  Three  months'  work  each 
year  is  required  to  hold  a  claim.  Failing  in  this 
the  land  reverts  to  the  government.  The  laws 
of  Canada  are  stringent  in  such  matters,  and  se- 
vere penalties  are  imposed  for  jumping  or  other 
interference  with  the  rights  of  claimants. 

Another  successful  argonaut  is  William  Stan- 
ley, 68  years  old,  who  up  to  two  years  ago  kept 
a  little  stationery  stand  in  Seattle.  He  left  a 
wife  at  home  with  several  children  and  took  one 
son  to  the  gold  fields  with  him.  He  brought 
back  $112,000  and  left  his  son  in  the  diggings. 
He  is  interested  with  his  son  and  two  New  York 
men  in  claims  which  he  values  at  $2,000,000. 
He  went  to  the  Yukon  as  a  last  resort,  and  made 
his  findings  in  three  months. 


22  KLONDIKE. 

Ethel  Bush,  of  Selma,  Cal.,  and  Clarence 
Berry,  of  Fresno,  were  married  March  15,  1896. 
They  were  penniless,  and  for  a  honeymoon  they 
chose  a  journey  to  the  Alaskan  gold  fields.  They 
drove  their  dog  team  into  Forty  Mile  camp 
eighty-seven  days  later.  For  weeks  they  toiled 
on  without  result.  Then  came  the  Klondike 
find,  and  they  moved  on  to  Dawson  City,  where 
they  picked  out  over  $100,000,  and  they  sold 
their  claim  in  San  Francisco  for  $2,000,000. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  KLONDIKE  AND  THE  YUKON 
DIGGINGS. 

The  richest  yields  of  gold  in  the  Yukon  region 
have  come  from  the  territory  embraced  by  the 
138th  and  145th  degrees  of  longitude  and  the 
62d  and  66th  degrees  of  latitude,  between  the 
upper  ramparts  on  the  East — steep  bluffs  frown- 
ing on  a  picuresque  bend  in  the  river,  and  Fort 
Yukon  on  the  west.  The  greatest  extent  of  gold- 


KLONDIKE  AND  YUKON  DIGGINGS.  23 

bearing  territory  thus  far  explored  is  the  Ameri- 
can side  of  the  141st  degree  of  longitude,  which 
is  the  accepted  boundary  line.  The  most  sen- 
sational discoveries  have  been  on  the  British 
side,  about  140  miles  to  the  east  of  the  line. 

On  the  American  side  gold  has  been  found  in 
liberal  quantities  along  a  number  of  creeks, 
Birch  Creek,  Firty-mile  Creek  and  Sixty-mile 
Creek  being  the  most  promising  fields  in  the 
order  named,  and  the  centre  for  these  diggings 
has  been  Circle  City,  on  the  bank  of  the  Yukon, 
about  140  miles  west  of  the  boundary.  On  the 
British  side  of  the  Klondike  River  and  the  El- 
dorado and  Bonanza  Creeks,  tributary  to  it  near 
its  junction  with  the  Yukon,  have  proved  the 
miners'  paradise.  There  is  a  group  of  creeks 
very  near  the  boundary,  chief  of  whicn  is  Miller 
Creek,  which  have  contributed  most  generously 
to  the  gold  supply.  These  are  claimed  both  by 
the  American  and  the  British  officials,  and  there 
is  grave  danger  that  they  may  lead  to  interna- 
tional complications  unless  the  boundary  i$ 
quickly  surveyed. 

Miller  Creek,  up  to  the  time  of  the  discovery 
of  Klondike,  was  credited  with  the  richest  dig- 
gings along  the  Yukon  in  proportion  to  their 


24  KLONDIKE. 

extent.  Over  $300,000  was  taken  out  last  sea- 
son. The  creek  is  only  six  miles  long,  but  fifty- 
four  claims  were  staked  out  on  it.  A  claim  con- 
sists of  500  feet  of  creek  and  reaching  up  indefi- 
nitely on  both  sides  of  the  gulch.  The  creek  is 
distant  about  sixty  miles  from  Forty-mile  Post, 
at  the  junction  of  Forty-mile  Creek  with  the  Yu- 
kon, and  it  is  surrounded  at  short  distances  Dy 
Poker,  Davis,  Glacier  and  Little  Gold  Creeks, 
all  bearing  gold. 

The  Klondike  River  enters  the  Yukon  from 
the  east  at  a  bend  about  300  miles  east  of  Circle 
City  and  fifty  miles  north  of  Sixty-mile  Creek. 
From  Sixty-mile  Creek  the  course  of  the  Yukon 
is  due  north  to  the  Klondike  and  then  it  starts 
again  toward  the  West.  The  great  copper  belt 
crosses  the  Yukon  just  at  this  point,  and  the  In- 
dians have  had  a  fishing  camp  there  for  years, 
the  Klondike  being  a  noted  stream  for  salmon. 
Its  waters  are  very  clear  and  shallow,  as  befits 
its  source  high  up  in  the  snow-capped  ranges. 

"Klondike"  means  "reindeer."  It  is  about  as 
near  the  Indian  word  as  the  miscellaneous  popu- 
lation of  prospectors  who  have  been  digging 
there  for  gold  were  able  to  come.  At  the  United 
States  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey  it  is  said  the 


KLONDIKE  AND  YUKON  DIGGINGS.  25 

word  ought  really  to  be  spelled  "Tlondak," 
which  is  Indian  for  "fishing  grounds,"  and  that 
is  the  name  given  to  the  stream  which  has  now 
become  synonymous  with  Eldorado  in  maps 
which  were  made  in  1887  by  Mr.  McGrath,  th^ 
Coast  Survey  official  detailed  at  that  time  to  ex- 
plore a  country  which  was  then  quite  unknown. 
McGrath  very  nearly  starved  to  death  on  the 
very  spot  whence  millions  of  dollars  in  yellow 
metal  have  been  taken  during  the  last  twelve 
months,  and  he  never  suspected  the  presence  at 
that  immediate  place  of  the  precious  metal.  But 
that  is  another  story. 

Miners  have  been  taking  out  gold  since  1894 
from  the  placer  diggings  on  the  American  side 
of  the  line.  The  earliest  diggings  were  at  Forty 
Mile  Creek,  about  sixty  miles  east  of  the  Klon- 
dike, and  then  came  discoveries  at  Sixty  Mile 
Creek,  a  little  farther  south,  and  at  Birch  Creek, 
a  good  deal  farther  west.  Of  these  diggings 
those  along  Birch  Creek  have  been  the  most 
profitable,  and  the  camp  of  Circle  City,  which 
was  founded  in  the  fall  of  1894,  was  for  a  time 
a  place  of  considerable  importance.  It  was  the 
distributing  point  for  the  whole  region  and  was, 
in  a  measure,  the  metropolis  of  the  Yukon  Val- 


26  KLONDIKE. 

ley.  Now  it  has  been  eclipsed,  for  a  time,  at  any 
rate,  by  the  new  settlement  at  Dawson  City. 
Circle  City  has  the  great  advantage,  however,  of 
being  on  American  soil,  for  whatever  the  pres- 
ent temporary  tendency,  it  is  believed  by  those 
who  have  studied  the  country  most  closely  that 
the  American  side  of  the  141st  parallel  of  longi- 
tude, which  constitutes  the  Alaskan  boundary, 
will  eventually  prove  the  richest  and  most  pro- 
fitable portion  of  the  gold-bearing  territory. 
Over  500  men  wintered  at  Circle  City  last  year. 
The  town,  which  is  situated  near  the  head  waters 
of  the  Yukon,  about  170  miles  from  Forty  Mile 
Creek,  is  laid  off  in  streets,  with  the  main  street 
facing  the  river,  and  it  is  so  near  to  Birch  Creek 
that  a  portage  of  six  miles  brings  it  to  the  banks 
of  Birch  Creek,  two  hundred  miles  from  the 
mouth,  and  thus  in  a  position  to  bring  the  gold 
ores  taken  out  of  this  great  American  gold-bear- 
ing basin  to  the  navigable  waters  of  the  Yukon. 
The  gold  diggings  on  American  soil  which  have 
been  prospected  extend  from  the  141st  to  the 
146th  degree  of  longitude.  The  Klondike  region 
is  just  to  the  west  of  the  141st  degree,  Dawson 
City  being  situated  at  the  junction  of  the  Klon- 
dike and  Yukon,  about  sixtv  miles  to  the  west. 


KLONDIKE  AND  YUKON  DIGGINGS.  27 

The  experts  of  the  Coast  and  Geological  Sur- 
veys who  have  explored  the  country  to  some  ex- 
tent estimate  that  the  gold-yielding  territory  ex- 
tends over  at  least  five  hundred  miles  and  that 
the  richest  portion  of  it  is  on  American  soil.  The 
Cassiar  Mountain  region,  as  far  east  as  the  130th 
degree  of  longitude  on  the  northern  border  of 
British  Columbia,  has  been  worked  with  a  good 
deal  of  success  for  the  last  eleven  years,  although 
the  yield  now  seems  to  be  falling  ofY.  The  gold 
in  this  region  comes  from  the  same  mother  lode 
as  that  at  Klondike,  at  Sixty  Mile  Creek,  at 
Forty  Mile  Creek  and  at  Birch  Creek.  Scientists 
believe  it  is  from  the  same  mother  lode  as  the 
gold  from  the  Sierras,  and  they  even  go  so  far 
as  to  assert  that  the  gold  mines  of  the  Ural 
Mountains  in  Siberia  go  back  to  the  same  origin. 
In  other  words,  the  whole  country  of  two  conti- 
nents, from  the  Ural  Mountains  to  the  Rockies,  is 
impregnated  with  a  mineral  which  is  apparently 
exhaustless  in  extent  and  which  will  suffice  to 
keep  the  world  supplied  with  gold  for  ages  to 
come. 

Nobody  seems  to  know  just  when  gold  was 
first  discovered  in  the  Yukon  Basin,  for  no  two 
miners  can  be  found  to  agree  on  the  subject.    It 


28  KLONDIKE. 

seems  to  be  certain  that  none  was  ever  found 
there  before  i860,  although  it  is  said  that  some 
of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company's  men  ran  on  to 
gold  at  about  that  time.  But  if  they  did  the  dis- 
covery was  never  followed  up,  and  they  are  hardly 
entitled  to  the  credit.  It  does  not  appear  that 
the  Russians,  during  their  ownership  and  occu- 
pation of  the  country,  ever  instituted  any  thor- 
ouh  search  for  the  precious  metals.  It  is  true  that 
gold  was  discovered  by  Doroshin  on  the  Kenai 
Peninsula  in  1848,  and  that  he  afterwards,  in 
1850-51,  made  further  explorations  of  the  same 
neihborhood,  but  it  has  always  been  charged  that 
the  Russian-American  Company,  regarding,  as  it 
did,  any  effort  to  develop  the  mineral  resources 
of  the  country  as  in  the  highest  degree  inimical  to 
the  business  in  which  it  was  wholly  engaged  and 
of  which  it  held  an  exclusive  monopoly,  induced 
him,  by  the  payment  of  a  consideration,  to  sup- 
press the  truth  in  regard  to  what  he  may  really 
have  discovered.  There  is  a  tradition,  too, 
among  old  Russian  residents  that  a  Russian  en- 
gineer sent  out  by  the  Imperial  Government  to 
examine  and  report  on  the  mineral  resources 
of  the  country,  made  some  rich  discoveries  on 
Baranoff    Island,  which  he    reported  in  Sitka, 


KLONDIKE  AND  YUKON  DIGGINGS.  29 

whereupon,  being  of  convivial  habits,  he  was 
taken  in  charge  by  the  governor,  who  was  also 
the  company's  manager,  by  whom  he  was  wined 
and  dined  and  his  appetite  for  drink  ministered 
to  until  he  sank  into  a  drunkard's  grave,  and  was 
thus  prevented  from  making  any  report  of  his  dis- 
coveries to  the  Imperial  Government.  Doro- 
shin  did,  however,  report  finding  gold  on  the 
Kaknu  River,  which  empties  into  Cook's  Inlet, 
though  it  appears  that  his  explorations  were 
wholly  confined  to  an  examination  of  the  alluvial 
sands  of  the  streams  and  gulches  in  that  neigh- 
borhood. To  the  fact  that  the  Russian-American 
Company,  like  the  Hudson  Bay  and  American 
Fur  Companies,  believed  that  its  interests  would 
be  jeopardized  by  the  bringing  to  light  of  any 
natural  resources  which  would  invite  immigra- 
tion, and  thus  tend  to  the  early  settlement  and 
development  of  the  country,  is  no  doubt  due  the 
further  fact  that  nothing  was  publicly  known  be- 
fore the  transfer  of  the  existence  in  Alaska  of 
gold  and  silver  in  paying  quantities. 

So  far  as  is  known,  the  first  genuine  prospector 
in  the  Yukon  region  was  one  George  Holt,  who 
is  declared  to  have  been  the  first  white  man  to 
cross  the  coast  range  for  that  purpose.     About 


30  KLONDIKE. 

all  that  is  known  of  Holt  is  that  he  made  his 
journey  in  1878,  but  nobody  seems  to  know 
what  path  he  followed  or  whether  he  took  the 
trail  over  the  Chilkoot  or  White  Pass.  It  is 
known  only  that  he  descended  the  chain  of 
lakes  above  the  Chilkoot  Pass,  which  have  since 
been  traversed  by  so  many  other  seekers  after 
gold,  that  he  followed  the  Indian  trail  to  the 
Hootalinqua  River  and  that  he  returned  the  same 
way  in  the  fall.  The  Hootalinqua  River  region, 
which  he  penetrated,  is  about  two  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  to  the  southwest  of  the  Klondike. 
Holt  reported  that  he  found  coarse  gold  near 
there,  but  no  coarse  gold  has  been  discovered  in 
that  region  since,  although  flour  gold  has  been 
yielded  up  from  the  bars  of  the  river.  In  any 
event,  Holt  did  not  find  encouragement  enough 
to  continue  his  exploration.  The  next  that  is 
known  is  the  expedition  of  Edward  Bean,  who 
started  out  from  Sitka  in  1880  at  the  head  of  a 
prospecting  party.  There  were  twenty-five  men 
in  the  company.  They  crossed  Chilkoot  Pass  to 
Lake  Lindemann,  built  boats  and  descended 
the  Lewis  River  as  far  as  the  Hootalinqua.  Their 
success  amounted  to  the  finding  of  gold  in  a 
small  stream  fifteen  miles  above  the  canon  yield- 


KLONDIKE  AND  YUKON  DIGGINGS.  31 

ing  $2Ji5  per  day.  This  was  not  a  discovery  cal- 
culated to  encourage  further  attempts,  but  about 
this  time  many  other  small  parties  began  to  force 
their  way  through  the  Chilkoot  Pass  farther  and 
farther  up  the  lakes  and  the  rivers.  All  of  them 
found  gold  in  greater  or  less  quantities.  The  first 
party  to  discover  gold  in  really  paying  quantities 
in  the  Yukon  Basin  consisted  of  four  miners, 
who  crossed  the  range  in  1881  and  descended  the 
Lewis  River  as  far  as  the  Big  Salmon  River,  as- 
cending that  stream  for  over  two  hundred  miles 
and  finding  gold  on  all  its  bars.  The  Cassiar 
Bar  was  not  located  until  1886,  and  up  until  a 
comparatively  recent  time  this  was  the  richest 
of  all  the  bars  ever  located  on  the  Yukon  or  any 
of  its  tributaries.  It  was  in  the  same  year  that 
coarse  gold  was  found  on  Forty  Mile  Creek  on 
American  soil  several  hundred  miles  down  the 
river.  This  discovery  drew  off  all  the  miners 
who  had  been  digging  in  the  upper  river  country 
on  Canadian  territory.  The  bars  at  Forty  Mile 
Cretk  were  worked  for  some  years  at  a  good 
profit,  but  they  have  now  been  abandoned  owing 
to  the  discovery  of  coarse  gold  more  easily  ac- 
cessible in  the  giilches.  Forty  Mile  Creek,  which 
will  always  be  of  interest  from  the  fact  that  it 


32  KLONDIKE. 

■was  the  scene  of  the  first  touch  of  gold  excitement 
in  Alaska,  owes  its  name  to  the  fact  that  it  en- 
etrs  the  Yukon  about  forty  miles  from  Old  Fort 
Reliance.  It  is  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
long  and  has  many  tributaries,  all  of  which  carry 
gold  in  paying  quantities.  Sixty  Mile  Creek  en- 
ters the  Yukon  River  from  the  southwest 
and  about  seventy  miles  above  the  mouth  of 
the  Stewart.  It  has  given  up  excellent  yields  of 
gold,  and  about  lOO  miners  have  wintered  every 
year  of  late  at  a  trading  post  and  a  saw  mill 
which  have  been  established  on  one  of  its  islands 
Birch  Creek  was  not  prospected  until  1893,  and 
then  only  just  enough  to  show  that  the  country 
contains  some  gold.  In  the  season  of  1894  near- 
ly one  hundred  men  prospected  this  country  and 
staked  ofif  their  claims.  It  was  found  that  bed- 
rock was  much  nearer  the  surface  than  in  the 
Forty  Mile  Creek  district,  and  the  claims  yielded 
very  good  returns.  They  drew  many  men  away 
from  the  Forty  Mile  Creek  mine. 

The  mining  of  these  regions  is  still  in  its  in- 
fancy, although  it  has  been  going  on  in  more  or 
less  desultory  fashion  for  the  last  fifteen  years, 
and  only  a  few  of  the  most  accessible  streams 
have  ever  been  prospected.    All  the  larger  rivers 


KLONDIKE  AND  YUKON  DIGGINGS.  33 

of  the  Upper  country  furnish  flour  gold  which 
increases  in  coarseness  as  the  rivers  are  ascend- 
ed, and  from  this  it  is  argued  that  the  surround- 
ing gulches  in  many  places  must  furnish  ex- 
ceedingly rich  diggings.  The  territory  cut  by 
these  streams  has  never  been  explored  even  su- 
perficially except  as  it  may  have  been  explored 
in  the  last  year  by  miners  hunting  for  gold,  and 
yet  it  is  almost  unlimited  in  extent.  A  hundred 
thousand  men  could  be  hunting  gold  in  the  Yu- 
kon Basin  at  the  same  time  without  ever  cross- 
ing one  another's  tracks  and  each  would  be  lost 
to  the  world. 

The  honor  of  discovering  the  richest  placer 
mines  in  the  world  belongs  to  an  Illinois  man 
named  George  Carmack.  A  party  of  miners, 
drifting  by  the  mouth  of  the  Klondike  on  July 
9,  1896,  found  Carmack  camped  in  a  lonely  spot 
there  with  his  family.  His  wife  was  a  native 
woman  of  the  Stick  tribe,  and  he  had  two  dark- 
skinned  children  following  him  about. 

He  had  been  in  the  country  eight  years,  and 
much  of  the  time  had  been  spent  with  the  Sticks 
at  Tagish  House,  on  the  chain  of  lakes  that  form 
the  source  of  the  coastward  arm  of  the  Yukon, 
on  the  trail  from  Juneau  to  the  gold  fields.  When 
3 


34  KLONDIKE. 

found  Carmack  was  making  quite  extensive 
preparations  for  curing  salmon,  the  annual  run 
of  which  was  expected  to  begin  any  day.  He 
had  erected  a  birch-covered  shed  for  the  better 
protection  of  his  catch  from  the  weather,  and 
he  already  had  his  nets  at  the  mouth  of  the  Klon- 
dike, a  half-mile  farther  down.  Carmack  expect- 
ed tO'  sell  his  crop  the  following  winter,  prin- 
cipally for  dog  feed,  although  in  times  of  food 
famine,  as  really  occurred  last  winter,  dried  sal- 
mon became  a  staple  article  of  diet  for  white 
men. 

Carmack  told  his  visitors  of  his  intention  to 
prospect  the  Klondike  as  soon  as  the  salmon 
season  was  over.  Four  weeks  later  he  took  two 
Indians  and  started  up  the  stream.  After  a  few 
miles  of  laborious  poling  against  a  rapid  cur- 
rent they  turned  into  the  first  considerable  tribu- 
tary that  came  in  from  the  right.  Here  condi- 
tions were  favorable  for  prospecting,  the  water 
being  shallow,  and  they  found  gold  in  encourag- 
ing quantities  on  the  bars  of  the  creek.  They 
followed  the  windings  of  this  stream  for  twenty 
or  twenty-five  miles  before  they  made  locations 
and  went  to  v/ork. 

The  results  were  almost  enough  to  turn  the 


KLONDIKE  AND  YUKON  DIGGINGS.  35 

brain  of  a  prospector  who  had  searched  ior  many 
years  in  the  hope  of  finding  gravel  that  would 
yield  a  few  grains'  weight  of  gold  to  the  pan. 
Here  at  a  depth  of  three  feet  in  the  low  bars  by 
the  creek  they  found  dirt  that  carried  a  dollar  to 
the  pound  in  coarse,  ragged  bits  of  gold.  Others 
have  since  found  diggings  ten-fold  richer. 

As  remote  as  their  discovery  was  they  were 
not  long  to  remain  in  sole  possession  of  it.  With 
the  exhaustion  of  their  few  days'  provisions,  the 
two  Indians  were  sent  back  to  the  village  for 
supplies. 

About  the  middle  of  August,  when  the  P.  B. 
Weare,  on  one  of  its  occasional  trips,  arrived  at 
the  Indian  village,  which  is  about  half  way  be- 
tween Forty  Mile  and  Sixty  Mile  Creeks,  the 
Indians  were  waiting  there  to  lay  in  their  sup- 
plies. There  were  also  several  other  prospectors 
who  happened  along,  and  the  discovery  was 
now  common  talk.  The  stories  of  fortune  prov- 
ed a  little  too  much  for  the  crew  of  the  Weare 
to  withstand.  They  deserted  in  a  body  and  joined 
the  rush  to  the  new  gold  fields.  The  captain, 
after  being  delayed  three  or  four  days,  got  an 
Indian  crew  sufficiently  trained  to  handle  the 
boat.    When  he  arrived  at  Forty  Mile  on  his  re- 


36  KLONDIKE. 

turn  the  reports  were  alluring  enough  to  Impel 
a  hundred  or  more  men  to  start  at  once  for  the 
new  find. 

The  Klondike  had  been  known  for  several 
years  to  drain  a  gold  country,  and  the  first  five 
miles  of  it  had  been  indifferently  prospected,  but 
the  gold  hunters  were  generally  run  out  by  bears. 

If  the  miners  had  made  any  encouraging  finds 
at  the  outset  it  would  have  been  different,  but 
all  other  things  being  equal,  in  their  estimation, 
they  concluded  to  try  streams  where  the  bears 
were  not  so  aggressive.  And  it  happened  that 
there  was  a  reason  for  the  bears  being  so  bad  in 
that  particular  place.  It  is  possibly  the  best 
stream  for  salmon  of  all  the  tributaries  of  the 
great  river. 

The  mountains  along  that  section  of  the  Yu- 
kon, and  in  fact,  from  Circle  City  up  stream  fur 
several  hundred  miles,  are  extremely  wild  and 
rugged.  The  great  copper  belt,  which  cresses 
the  Yukon  at  the  Klondike,  is  a  succession  of 
miassive  quartz  ledges,  with  that  metal  predomi- 
nating. The  veins  are  known  to  carry  gold,  but 
in  what  proportion  is  yet  to  be  determined. 

Here  also  is  the  pioneer  quartz  mine  of  the 
Yukon.     Captain  Healy,    the    manager    of   the 


SEEKING  THE  POT  OF  GOLD.  37 

transportation  company,  located  a  claim  on  the 
side  of  a  precipice  opposite  the  mouth  of  tlie 
Klondike  over  two  years  ago.  Vein  mining-  had 
never  been  thought  of  as  a  present  undertaking. 
Labor  was  worth  $15  a  day  and  supplies  of  all 
kinds  were  proportionately  high,  but  he  put  up 
his  location. 

Last  year  he  did  some  development  work  on 
it  and  had  samples  assayed,  showing  it  to  be  rich 
in  gold.  But  the  latest  reports  from  the  Klon- 
dike put  such  extravagant  prices  on  labor  that 
quartz  will  not  be  considered  for  some  time  yet. 

Still  it  is  in  the  veins  that  will  be  found  the 
real  wealth  of  this  wonderful  country. 


CHAPTER  III. 

SEEKING  THE  POT  OF  GOLD. 

The  first  requirement  for  one  seeking  the  gold 
fields  is  a  hardy  constitution;  the  second  is  capi- 
tal. For  the  Yukon  is  not,  as  some  other  gold 
countries  have  been,  a  poor  man's  paradise. 
Gold  is  there  in  Aladdin-like  profusion,  but  it  is 
not  to  be  had  for  the  asking.    It  comes  only  as 


38  KLONDIKE. 

the  fruit  of  wearisome  and  perilous  travel,  of  des- 
perate combat  with  the  rigors  of  an  Arctic  cli- 
mate, of  deadly  waiting  for  Arctic  winters  to 
unloose  their  icy  hands.  For  the  privilege  of  a 
few  months  of  toil  the  prospecting  miner  must 
endure  many  months  of  unremunerative  delay, 
during  which  he  must  pay  extortionately  for  the 
mere  privilege  of  living.  For  the  season  of  pla- 
cer mining  lasts  only  during  June,  July  and  Au- 
gust. 

Before  beginning  even  to  hunt  for  gold  the 
aspiring  miner  must  prepare  himself  for  the  long 
and  tedious  trip  to  the  fields,  and  this  is  a  task 
that  will  tax  the  endurance  and  nerve  of  the  most 
hardy.  It  means,  according  to  one  who  has 
made  the  trip,  "packing  provisions  over  pathless 
mountains,  towing  a  heavy  boat  against  a  five 
to  an  eight-mile  current,  over  battered  boulders, 
digging  in  the  bottomless  frost,  sleeping  where 
night  overtakes,  fighting  gnats  and  mosquitoes 
by  the  millioias,  shooting  seething  canyons  and 
rapids  and  enduring  for  seven  long  months  a 
relentless  cold  which  never  rises  above  zero  and 
frequently  falls  to  80  belovv^." 

Any  man  who  is  physically  able  to  endure  all 
this,*who  will  go  to  the  gold   fields    for   a    few 


SEEKING  THE  POT  OF  GOLD.  39 

years,  can,  by  strict  attention  to  business,  make 
a  good  strike,  with  the  possibihties  of  a  fortune. 

But  he  must  have  money  to  start  with.  All 
who  have  been  to  the  gold  fields  agree  in  saying 
that  no  man  should  undertake  the  journey  with 
less  than  $400  in  capital.  And  he  had  better  have 
$1000.  The  expense  of  reaching  the  mines  is 
considerable.  One  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  is 
a  modest  figure  for  the  journey  from  Seattle,  and 
when  once  in  the  gold  region  the  expense  of  liv- 
ing is  enormous.  The  prices  of  even  the  most 
ordinary  provisions  are  fabulous,  and  the  com- 
panies doing  business  there  refuse  to  give  credit, 
as  they  can  sell  all  their  goods  and  more  for 
ready  cash.  Provisions  are  almost  unobtainable 
at  any  price.  An  officer  of  the  U.  S.  Geological 
Survey,  who  has  traveled  through  this  country, 
has  assured  the  author  of  this  book  that  if  he 
were  looking  for  certain  profit  and  had  the  ne- 
cessary capital  he  would  never  think  of  hunting 
for  gold,  but  would  invest  ever}^thing  in  provi- 
sions and  groceries,  which  would  yield  enormous 
profits  should  they  be  got  into  the  Yukon  region. 

If  the  traveler  contemplates  the  overland  trip 
his  outfit  should  be  Dought  in  Juneau,  the  me- 
tropolis  of   Southeastern   Alaska,  the   last   out- 


40  KLONDIKE. 

post  of  civilization  in  the  path  of  the  voyager  for 
gold.  The  needs  of  the  traveler  can  be  gauged 
there  better  than  anywhere  else,  nearer  the  centre 
of  population  and  wealth.  Experienced  men 
have  found  that  the  provisions  a  man  ought  to 
lav  by  before  starting  on  the  overland  journey 
from  Juneau  make  a  formidable  list.  The  arti- 
cles required  for  one  man  for  one  month  are 
somewhat  as  follows: 

Twenty  pounds  of  flour,  with  baking  powder. 

12  pounds  of  bacon. 

6  pounds  of  beans. 

5  pounds  of  dried  fruits. 

3  pounds  of  dessicated  vegetables. 

4  pounds  of  butter. 

5  pounds  of  sugar. 
4  cans  of  milk. 

1  pound  of  tea. 

3  pounds  of  coffee. 

2  pounds  of  salt. 

'  Five  pounds  of  corn  meal. 
Pepper. 
Matches. 
Mustard. 

Cooking  utensils  and  dishes. 
Frying  pan. 


SEEKING  THE  POT  OF  GOLD.  41 

Water  kettle. 

Tent. 

Yukon  stove. 

Two  pairs  good  blankets. 

One  rubber  blanket. 

Bean  pot. 

Two  plates. 

Drinking  cup. 

Tea  pot. 

Knife  and  fork. 

Large  cooking  pan. 

Small  cooking  pan. 

These  are  simply  for  sustenance.  In  addi- 
tion the  traveler  will  find  it  necessary  to  build  his 
own  boat  with  which  to  thread  the  chain  of  lakes 
and  rivers  leading  to  the  gold  basin.  He  will 
need  the  following  tools: 

Jack  plane. 

Whip  saw. 

Hand  saw. 

Rip  saw. 

Draw  knife. 

Ax 

Hatchet. 

Pocket  rule. 

Six  pounds -of  assorted  nails. 


42  KLONDIKE. 

Three  pounds  of  oakum. 

Five  pounds  of  pitch. 

Five  pounds  of  five-eighths  rope. 

He  will  also  find  that  he  must  have  some  pro- 
tection against  the  deadly  assaults  of  gnats  and 
mosquitos,  which  fill  the  air  throughout  Alaska; 
that  he  will  have  to  be  provided  for  mountain 
climbing  and  for  protection  against  snow  blind- 
ness, whch  is  one  of  the  most  demoralizing  af- 
flictions that  can  befall  the  traveler  over  the  snow- 
covered  passes.    So  he  will  need: 

Mosquito  netting. 

One  pair  crag-proof  hip  boots. 

Snow  glasses. 

Medicmes. 

These  are  the  provisions  necessary  for  a  miner 
for  a  single  month,  and  whether  he  will  need 
more  for  his  journey  depends  somewhat  upon 
the  manner  in  which  he  travels.  In  the  first 
place  nobody  should  undertake  to  travel  alone. 
The  trip  should  be  made  in  parties  of  two  or 
more,  which  will  conduce  to  safety  and  also 
lightness  of  the  individual's  load.  It  is  possible 
for  parties  to  attend  to  their  own  transportation 
over  the  divide  between  Juneau  and  the  lakes. 
In  that  case  they  should  start  before  the  first  of 


SEEKING  THE  POT  OF  GOLD.  43 

April  so  as  to  catch  the  snows  and  ice.  They  can 
use  sleighs  over  the  summit  of  Chilkoot  Pass 
and  along  the  lakes  down  to  the  place  of  junc- 
tion with  the  river.  By  the  time  the  river  is 
reached  the  ice  will  have  begun  to  break  away 
and  the  rest  of  the  journey  can  be  managed  by 
boat.  By  this  arrangement  the  gold  fields  can 
be  reached  four  weeks  earlier  than  by  waiting 
for  the  opening  of  the  summer  season  before 
starting  from  Juneau.  Should  the  start  be  de- 
ferred till  after  April  30,  Indians  will  have  to  be 
employed  to  do  the  packing  across  the  pass.  The 
Indians  charge  $14  per  hundred  for  this  ser- 
vice, and  each  is  accustomed  to  carry  about  a 
hundred  weight. 

Before  making  a  start  the  wise  traveler  will 
consider  the  cost  of  living  in  the  diggings  and 
provide  himself  accordingly.  Following  are  a 
few  of  the  average  prices  of  provisions  and  ar- 
ticles of  common  use: 

Cost  of  shirts   $5-00 

Boots,  per  pair 10.00 

Rubber  boots,  per  pair 25.00 

Caribou  hams,  each 40.00 

Flour,  per  fifty  pounds 20.00 

Beef,  per  pound  (fresh) 50' 


44  KLONDIKE. 

Bacon,  per  pound 75 

Coffee,  per  povmd   i.oo 

Sugar,  per  pound 50 

1  Eggs,  per  dozen 2.00 

Condensed  milk,  per  can  i.oo 

Live  dogs,  per  pound 2.00 

Picks,  each i5-00 

Shovels,  each   15.00 

Wages,  per  day 1 5.00 

Lumber,  per  1000  feet 1 50.00 

When  the  miners  left  Dawson  City  the  follow- 
ing prices  were  in  vogue: 

Flour,  per  100  lbs $12.00 

Moose  ham,  per  lb i.oo 

Caribou  meat,  per  lb 65 

Beans,  per  lb 10 

Rice,  per  lb 25 

Sugar,  per  lb 25 

Bacon,  per  lb 40 

Butter,  per  roll 1.50 

Eggs,  per  dozen    1.50 

Better  eggs,  per  dozen  2.00 

Salmon,  each .$1  to     1.50 

Potatoes,  per  lb 25 

Turnips,  per  lb 15 

Tea,  per  lb i.oo 


SEEKING  THE  POT  OF  GOLD.  45 

Coffee,  per  lb 50 

Dried  fruits,  per  lb 35 

Canned  fruits 50 

Canned  meats 75 

Lemons,  each 20 

Oranges,  each 50 

Tobacco,  per  lb 1.50 

Liquors,  per  drink 50 

Shovels 2.50 

Picks 5.00 

Coal  oil,  per  gallon  i.oo 

Overalls   1.50 

Undenvear,  per  suit $5  to     7.50 

Shoes 5.00 

Rubber  boots $10  to  15.00 

The  tourist  from  the  Atlantic  seaboard  will 
find  in  the  following  table  information  concern- 
ing the  expenses  of  travel  according  to  his  means 
and  inclination: 

Fare  from  New  York  to  Seattle  via  Northern 
Pacific,  $81.50. 

Fee  for  Pullman  sleeper,  $20.50. 
Fee  for  tourist  sleeper,  run  only  west  of  St. 
Paulu,  $5. 

Meals  served  in  dining  car  for  entire  trip,  $16. 
Meals  are  served  at  stations  along  the  route  a 
la  carte. 


46  KLONDIKE. 

Distance  from  New  York  to  Seattle,  3290 
miles. 

Days  required  to  make  the  journey,  about  six. 

Fare  for  steamer  from  Seattle  to  Juneau,  in- 
cluding cabin  and  meals,  $32  cabin;  $17  steerage. 

Days,  Seattle  to  Juneau,  about  five. 

Number  of  miles  from  Seattle  to  Juneau,  725. 

Cost  of  living  in  Juneau,  about  $3  a  day. 

Distance  up  Lynn  Canal  to  Dyea,  steamboat, 
75  miles. 

Number  of  days  New  York  to  Dyea,  twelve. 

Cost  of  complete  outfit  for  overland  journey, 
about  $150. 

Cost  provisions  for  one  year,  $200. 

Cost  of  dogs,  sled  and  outfit,  about  $150. 

Steamer  leaves  Seattle  once  a  week. 

Best  time  to  start  is  early  in  the  spring. 

Total  cost  of  trip  New  York  to  Klondike,  about 
$667. 

Number  of  days  required  for  journey.  New 
York  to  Klondike,  thirty-six  to  forty. 

Total  distance,  Juneau  to  the  mines  at  Klon- 
dike, 650  miles. 

Having  settled  the  question  of  expense,  the 
next  thing  is  to  select  a  route.  The  routes  that 
go  into  Klondike  are  two.    The  most  expensive 


SEEKING  THE  POT  OF  GOLD.  4; 

is  by  Steamer  from  Seattle  to  St.  Michael,  a 
distance  of  2500  miles,  and  then  by  river  boat  up 
the  Yukon,  1700  miles  to  Dawson  City.  By  tliis 
route  it  takes  thirty-five  or  forty  days,  and  the 
fare  is  $180.  The  steamers  permit  only  15,0 
pounds  of  baggage  for  each  passenger.  The  two 
steamers  that  leave  before  the  river  is  closed 
by  ice  this  fall  cannot  carry  more  than  150  pas- 
sengers each.  This  route  is  the  more  expensive^ 
and  some  think  the  more  comfortable. 

The  second  route  is  overland  from  Juneau, 
and  is  the  most  perilous,  the  most  subject  10 
'hardships  and -consequently  the  most  fascinating 
fortune-hunting  journey  that  could  be  imagined. 
Steamers  run  from  Seattle  to  Juneau,  which 
is  the  metropolis  of  Alaska,  and  thence  a  small 
steamer  transports  the  seeker  after  gold  up  Lynn 
Canal  and  Chilkoot  Inlet  to  Dyea,  sometimes 
called  Taiya,  which  has  just  been  made  a  port  of 
entry  by  Secretary  Gage  for  the  benefit  of  the 
incoming  horde  of  miners.  The  distance  is  650 
miles.  Dyea  is  just  at  the  head  of  the  northern- 
most branch  of  Chilkoot  Inlet,  which  is  itself  a 
branch  of  Lynn  Canal,  the  extreme  northern 
limit  of  navigation,  and  is  one  hundred  miles 
due  north  of  Juneau.    At  Dyea  the  overland  jour- 


48  KLONDIKE. 

ney  begins.  The  outfit,  which  for  the  long  period 
of  isolation  in  the  interior  is  no  small  affair,  is 
packed  on  sleds  and  hauled  for  twenty-seven 
miles  over  the  mountains  and  over  the  deadly 
Chilkoot  Pass  to  Lake  Lindeman,  the  first  of 
the  series  of  lakes  reaching  up  into  the  interior. 
This  passage  of  twenty-seven  miles  is  the  most 
difficult  part  of  the  whole  journey.  It  would  be 
bad  enough  if  it  were  made  without  baggage.  A 
good  traveler,  in  prime  condition,  unhampered 
by  an  elaborate  outfit,  can  make  the  summit  of 
Chilkoot  Pass  from  Dyea  in  twelve  hours.  Mr. 
Pratt,  of  the  United  States  Coast  Survey,  who 
was  in  Alaska  on  the  boundary  commission  sev- 
eral years  ago,  left  Dyea  with  a  companion  at  9 
o'clock  one  morning  and  reached  the  summit  of 
Chilkoot  Pass  at  9  o'clock  the  same  night.  But 
that  was  a  case  of  moving  light  infantry.  Ordi- 
narily it  will  take  a  miner  at  least  two  days  to 
make  the  difficult  ascent  with  a  portion  of  his 
outfit,  and  sometimes  it  is  necessary  for  him  to  go 
back  to  the  starting  point  for  the  rest  of  his  out- 
fit, for  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  transporta- 
tion companies  have  not  yet  secured  a  charter  to 
do  business  in  Chilkoot  Pass.  ,Thus  it  is  that  at 
least  six  days  might  be  used  up  in  getting  over 


SEEKING  THE  POT  OF  GOLD.  49 

the  short  distance  from  salt  water  to  fresh.  Some- 
times it  takes  even  longer  than  that.  The  only 
assistance  that  can  be  obtained  is  that  of  the  In- 
dians, who  can  be  hired  to  carry  outfits  over  the 
divide  at  an  expense  of  $14  for  every  hundred 
pounds.  This  is  done  in  the  absence  of  snow, 
which  precludes  sledding.  With  the  present  rush 
to  the  gold  fields  the  natives  will  receive  large 
profits.  The  overland  trip  involves  a  climb  of 
3500  feet  to  the  summit  of  Chilkoot  Pass,  and  it 
is  one  of  the  most  impressively  picturesque  jour- 
neys that  can  be  imagined.  The  landscape  is 
resplendent  with  glaciers,  the  ice  sparkles  like 
jewels  in  the  Alaskan  sun,  the  mountains  rise  in 
the  distance  on  every  side,  and  it  is  all  impressive 
beyond  the  power  of  description.  Beyond  this 
the  trip  is  exhausting,  though  necessarily  not  so 
dangerous  as  in  the  pass,  for  there  are  times  when 
sudden  snows  come  to  fill  in  the  pass  without 
warning,  and  there  are  few  who  have  survived 
such  an  encounter  with  the  elements  as  this.  But 
with  Lake  Lindeman  a  new  feature  of  the  jour- 
ney presents  itself.  Those  who  make  the  journey 
in  summer  will  find  the  ice  out  of  the  lakes,  but  if 
an  early  start  were  to  be  made  they  would  be  able 
to  cross  Lake  Lindman  and  the  other  lakes  of  the 
4 


50  KLONDIKE. 

chain  on  foot  or  else  by  means  of  ice  boats  tem- 
porarily constructed.  The  ice  breaks  up  in  the 
lake  about  the  first  of  May,  and  then  it  becomes 
necessary  for  the  travelers  to  stop  and  build 
boats.  Until  the  last  year  it  was  necessary  for 
every  miner  to  carry  a  whip  saw  with  him  with 
which  to  cut  the  timber  for  his  craft,  and  whip- 
sawing  Avas  one  of  the  picturesque,  although  not 
especially  inviting,  incidents  of  the  trip.  But  a 
saw  mill  has  recently  been  constructed.  The  only 
timber  used  in  the  construction  of  boats  on  the 
lakes  is  spruce  or  Norway  pine.  In  the  first 
place,  the  timber  has  to  be  located,  and  this  is  not 
the  easiest  thing  in  the  world,  because  the  timber 
around  the  lake  is  nearly  all  burned  ofif,  and  there 
is  none  suitable  for  boat  building.  After  the  tim- 
ber has  been  located  comes  the  construction  of  a 
saw  pit.  To  construct  a  saw  pit  it  is  necessary  to 
find  trees  so  arranged  as  to  support  cross-pieces, 
the  stumps  being  cut  at  a  proper  distance  from 
•  the  ground  so  as  to  take  the  notched  cross-pieces 
in.  This  requires  four  trees  about  equi-distant 
from  one  another,  and  the  cross-pieces  have  to 
be  fixed  very  firmly  in  place  so  as  not  to  slip,  as 
the  log  which  is  to  be  sawed  is  likely  otherwise 
to  be  the  cause  of  an  accident.     Often  a  good 


SEEKING  THE  POT  OF  GOLD.  51 

woodsman  will  be  able  to  fell  the  tree  which  is  to 
be  sawed  in  such  a  way  that  it  will  fall  into  the 
pit,  which  saves  the  time  and  trouble  of  skidding- 
the  log  up  and  rolling  it  in  place  after  felling, 
which  is  frequently  a  very  difficult  task.  From 
the  slabs  and  boards  thus  roughly  made  the  flat- 
boats  are  constructed,  upon  which  the  miners 
craverse  the  chain  of  lakes  extending  north  from 
Chilkoot  Pass.  Lake  Lindman  is  about  six  miles 
long,  with  an  average  width  of  one  mile,  and  is 
cleared  to  navigation  usually  after  ^lay  15th,  al- 
though sometimes  not  before  June  loth.  Con- 
necting with  it  is  Lake  Bennett,  which  is  twenty- 
six  miles  long,  with  an  average  breadth  of  one 
mile;  and  then  comes  Tagish  Lake.  Lake  Ben- 
nett is  surrounded  by  high  mountains,  which  rise 
abruptly  on  either  side,  making  it  exceedingly 
difficult  to  find  a  landing  place.  It  is  rather  per- 
ilous for  rafts  and  boats  on  account  of  the  strong: 
winds  which  sweep  up  from  the  south  through 
Chilkoot  Pass,  Lake  Bennett  acting  as  a  funnel 
for  that  norrow  passage.  The  v/inds  are  always 
in  the  south  and  are  caused  by  the  hot  air  of  the 
inland  valleys,  supplemented  by  the  cooler  air 
of  the  coast,  rushing  inland  over  the  low  passes 
and  down  the  lakes.    As  Lake  Bennett  is  only 


52  KLONDIKE. 

five  miles  wide  at  its  broadest  place,  and  at  many 
points  is  much  less  than  a  mile,  the  air  is  forced 
over  it  between  the  high  ridges  of  mountains 
at  a  tremendous  rate.  Some  of  the  mountains 
reach  a  height  of  8000  feet.  The  climate  is  dry, 
and  what  little  rain  falls  consists  of  an  occasional 
thunder  shower.  The  air  is  cool  and  bracing 
from  the  snow-capped  peaks,  which  temper  the 
warmth  of  a  down-pouring  sun. 

Lake  Bennett  is  connected  with  Lake  Tagish 
by  a  very  crooked  and  shallow  channel  with  a 
slight  current  known  as  Caribou  Crossing,  from 
the  fact  that  it  was  used  by  the  bands  of  barren 
land  caribou  in  their  migrations  in  the  fall  and 
spring.  Tagish  Lake  is  an  irregular  body  of 
water  with  two  arms,  known  as  Windy  Arm  and 
Taku  Arm,  stretching  ofif  to  the  south  and  south- 
east. Taku  Arm  is  really  a  larger  body  of  water 
than  that  particular  portion  known  as  Tagish 
Lake,  but  Tagish  Lake  acquires  its  importance 
from  being  directly  in  line  of  travel  between  Lake 
Lindeman  and  Lake  Bennett  on  the  south  and 
Lake  Marsh  on  the  north.  Tagish  Lake  is  con- 
nected with  Lake  Marsh  by  a  broad  river  with 
slow  current,  lined  with  wooded  slopes  and  plen- 
ty of  Cottonwood  and  white  spruce.    The  river  is 


SEEKING  THE  POT  OF  GOLD.  53 

about  five  miles  long,  and  on  it  is  situated  the 
Tagish  House,  where  yearly  festivals  and  councils 
of  war  are  held  by  the  natives,  the  buildings  being 
the  only  permanent  structures  in  hundreds  of 
miles  above  where  the  Pelly  and  Lewis  Rivers 
join  to  make  the  Yukon. 

Lake  Marsh,  which  is  next  entered,  stretches 
along  at  a  width  of  two  miles  for  a  distance  of 
twent}',  the  most  notable  feature  of  all  these  lakes 
being  their  narrowness  as  compared  with  their 
length.  Lake  Marsh  is  in  the  middle  of  a  broad 
valley,  from  which  high  ranges  of  mountains 
stand  out  prominently  at  a  considerable  distance. 
Its  banks,  like  the  banks  of  the  other  lakes,  are 
well  wooded.  From  Lake  Marsh  the  seeker  for 
gold  finds  his  way  into  Lewis  River,  which  he 
follows  for  a  distance  of  more  than  a  hundred 
miles  to  the  northwest  until  he  reaches  the  gold 
fields  around  the  Klondike  Basin.  1  his  journey 
along  Lewis  River,  with  its  canons  and  rapids,  is 
one  of  the  most  picturesque  and  interesting  that 
can  possibly  be  imagined.  One  of  the  features 
of  the  trip  is  the  high  cut  banks  which  stretch 
along  for  mile  after  mile  and  which  are  complete- 
ly honeycombed  by  martins,  which  resort  there  to 
rear  their  young.     Lake  Marsh  is  the  limit  for 


64  KLONDIKE. 

the  migration  of  the  salmon,  which  arrive  there 
in  small  numbers,  although  those  who  do  brave 
the  journey  are  said  to  be  the  finest  to  be  found 
anywhere  in  the  world,  averaging  forty  pounds 
in  weight.  The  swift  waters  of  the  Grand  Canon 
are  too  powerful  ever  for  the  salmon  whose  har- 
dihood brings  them  as  far  up  the  river  as  this. 

The  Grand  Canon  is  a  wonderfully  beautiful 
bit  of  scenery.  It  is  cut  through  a  horizontal 
basalt  bed,  and  the  vv^alls  range  in  height  from 
fifty  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet,  being  worn 
into  all  sorts  of  fantastic  shapes.  The  average 
width  of  the  canon  is  about  one  hundred  feet, 
and  as  the  average  width  of  the  river  above  it 
is  over  seven  hundred  feet,  the  force  with  v/hich 
this  great  volum.e  of  water  cuts  through  the 
steep  ledges  of  rock  may  be  imagined.  Mr.  Wil- 
son, who  made  this  trip  in  1894  and  who  has 
described  it  at  length  in  his  "Guide  to  the  Yukon 
Gold  Field,"  says  that  he  shot  through  the  can- 
on for  a  distance  of  three-quarters  of  a  mile  in 
two  minutes  and  twenty  seconds,  and  when  his 
boat  emerged  from  the  chasm  it  was  leaking  bad- 
ly and  nearly  ever\'  nail  was  started.  Tv/o  miles 
beyond  come  the  White  Horse  Rapids,  which 
form  a  perilous  passage  even    for   the   best    of 


SEEKING  THE  POT  OF  GOLD.  55 

boats,  and  farther  down  comes  Lake  Labarge,  at 
a  distance  of  about  fifty  miles  from  Lake  Marsh. 
Lake  Labarge  is  thirty-one  miles  long,  with  an 
average  width  of  five  miles,  and  is  very  windy. 
It  is  the  last  of  the  remarkable  series  of  lakes  be- 
ginning with  Lake  Lindeman  in  the  south.  And 
here  attention  should  be  drawn  to  the  singular 
conformation  of  the  country  which  makes  the 
springs  no  farther  distant  than  thirty  miles  from 
tidewater  on  the  south  find  their  outlet  in  the 
great  system  of  rivers  which  pour  their  waters 
through  the  Yukon  into  Bering  Sea  thousands 
of  miles  away. 

The  Hootalinqua  River  enters  the  Lewis 
twenty-eiglit  miles  below  Lake  Labarge  and  has 
acquired  an  interest  apart  from  its  size  owing  to 
the  fact  that  it  was  the  limit  of  the  journey  of 
the  earliest  prospector  for  gold  in  this  region. 
Thirty-one  miles  farther  down  is  the  Big  Salmon, 
and  thirty-live  miles  still  farther  comes  the  Little 
Salmon,  both  of  which  are  great  streams  for 
fishing,  m.any  Indians  spending  the  summer 
months  on  the  larger  river  preparing  their  win- 
ter salmon.  After  proceeding  eighty  miles  far- 
ther the  argonauts  come  to  old  Fort  Selkirk,  at 
the  junction  of    the    PeDv    and    Lev/is    Rivers, 


66  KLONDIKE. 

where  there  is  a  trading  post.  This  is  the  far- 
thest point  to  which  the  shallow  boats  which  ply 
the  Yukon  reach,  and  the  P.  B.  Weare,  which 
will  be  a  familiar  name  no  doubt  to  those  miners 
hereafter  who  endeavor  to  reach  the  gold  fields 
by  the  water  route,  has  been  accustomed  to  win- 
ter. Ninety-six  miles  farther  down  the  White 
River,  which  is  described  as  the  most  wonderful 
of  all  the  great  system,  enters  the  Yukon  from 
the  west.  The  volume  of  water  is  vast;  it  is  mud- 
dy in  color,  and  the  current  flows  at  the  rate  of 
eight  or  ten  miles  an  hour.  It  discharges  itself 
into  the  Yukon  with  such  force  that  the  roar  can 
be  heard  for  a  long  distance,  and  it  muddies  the 
larger  river  until  the  waters  of  the  two  can  hard- 
ly be  distinguished.  The  White  River  comes 
from  a  glacier  region  and  is  supposed  to  flow 
over  volcanic  deposits,  but  the  meagreness  of 
the  information  which  exists  in  regard  to  this 
whole  interior  country  appears  in  the  fact  that 
little  more  than  has  been  said  is  known  about 
one  of  the  largest  and  most  remarkable  streams 
in  the  territory  of  the  United  States.  Ten  miles 
farther  down  the  Yukon  receives  the  waters  of 
the  Stewart  River,  along  which  rich  finds  of  gold 
have  recently  been  made.     It  is  a  quartz  forma- 


SEEKING  THE  POT  OF  GOLD.  57 

tion  and  the  rock  assays  $300.  Seventy  miles 
farther  Sixty  Mile  Creek  joins  the  swelling 
stream  and  fifty  miles  beyond  Sixty  Mile  Creek 
the  Klondike  River  enters  from  the  east.  The 
Yukon  between  the  Klondike  River  on  the  east, 
and  where  Sixty  Mile  Creek  enters  it  on  the  west, 
runs  almost  directly  north  and  south.  The  gold 
discoveries  on  Sixty  Mile  Creek  have  been  far 
to  the  west  on  the  American  side  of  the  boun- 
dary, while  the  discoveries  on  the  Klondike 
River  have  been  to  the  east  and  altogether  on 
Canadian  soil.  Continuing  down  the  river  from 
Koldnike  the  traveler  would  come  to  Forty  Mile 
Creek,  which  a  year  ago  was  the  centre  of  such 
gold  mining  excitement  as  there  was,  but  for  the 
present  at  any  rate  no  seeker  after  wealth  will 
venture  a  step  beyond  the  Klondike  region.  The 
reports  of  miners  coming  from  the  gold  fields 
all  agree  that  the  placer  diggings  along  Forty 
Mile  Creek,  Sixty  Mile  Creek  and  Birch  Creek 
have  been  abandoned  for  the  more  spectacular, 
sensational  findings  on  the  Klondike  River. 
That  Circle  City  is  occupied  by  only  a  stray  min- 
er or  tow,  and  that  Forty  Mile  Post,  which  in  1895 
boasted  ten  saloons,  two  restaurants,  three  bil- 
liard halls,  two  dance  houses,  an  opera  house,  a 


68  KLONDIKE. 

cigar  factory,  a  barber  shop,  two  bakeries,  sev- 
eral breweries  and  distilleries  and  a  store,  is  now 
a  deserted  camp. 

This  desertion  of  Forty  Mile  Post  and  of  Cir- 
cle City,  which  is  one  hundred  and  seventy-live 
miles  farther  down  the  river,  is  believed  by  min- 
ing experts  to  be  temporary,  for  the  fields  which 
feed  them  are  practically  exhaustless,  although 
they  have  been  abandoned  now  for  diggings 
which  will  yield  speedier  returns. 

But  for  the  present  the  traveler  may  be  safely 
left  at  Klondike,  which  was  his  original  destina- 
tion, having  spent  seven  weeks  in  traversing  the 
650  miles  between  Lynn  Canal  and  Dawson  ('ity, 
with  dangerous  and  exciting  experience,  through 
swift  and  treacherous  currents,  log  jams,  iloat- 
ing  ice  and  debris,  whirl  pools  and  rapids  and 
dark  canons  full  of  unknown  difificulties.  Tlic 
quickest  time  which  can  be  made  under  existing 
conditions  between  Juneau  and  Dawson  City  is 
about  a  month. 

Those  who  wish  to  take  the  route  by  way  of 
St.  Michael  can  board  the  steamer  at  San  l^ran- 
cisco  or  Seattle,  travel  twenty-five  hundred  miles 
to  St.  Michael,  which  is  the  Alaskan  seaport  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Yukon  River,  then  travel  on 


SEEKING  THE  POT  OF  GOLD.  59 

the  little  river  steamer  1895  miles  clear  across 
American  territory  and  well  into  British  Colum- 
bia. This  trip  takes  about  thirty  days  and  the 
traveler  is  subject  to  tedious  delays  caused  by 
ice  jams  and  sand  bars,  so  that  by  the  time  he 
reaches  the  gold  field  he  is  hardly  in  condition  ' 
to  take  advantage  of  his  opportunities.  The 
period  during  which  the  Yukon  River  is  navi- 
gable is  so  short  that  some  think  it  hardly  pays 
to  attempt  the  journey  in  this  way,  al< hough 
hundreds  have  essayed  the  trip  in  the  first  ilusli 
of  the  gold  excitement.  The  ice  does  not  break 
up  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  earlier  than  the  first 
of  June  and  by  the  time  the  traveler  reaches  the 
fields  and  locates  his  claim  winter  is  almost  ready 
to  set  in  and  he  is  obliged  to  exist  as  best  he  can 
through  the  bitter  cold  of  Arctic  days.  So  it  is 
that  the  majority  of  prospectors  will  continue  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  overland  trip  from  Ju- 
neau which  has  been  described  in  detail. 

A  new  route  to  the  Klondike  will  be  opened 
next  spring.  It  is  overland  from  Juneau  to  Fort 
Selkirk,  on  the  Yukon,  and  is  entirely  by  land. 
Captain  Goodall,  of  the  Pacific  Coast  Steamship 
Company,  inspected  it  this  summer  and  reported 
it  practicable.    It  is  about  700  miles  long,  and  it 


60  KLONDIKE. 

crosses  the  divide  over  Chillkoot  Pass,  v^hich  is 
about  fifty-five  miles  to  the  east  of  Chilkoot 
Pass.  No  lakes  or  rivers  are  on  the  route,  but 
the  trail  runs  over  a  high,  level  prairie.  Old  pio- 
neer Dalton,  after  whom  the  trail  is  named,  is 
now  driving  a  band  of  sheep  on  the  trail  to  Daw- 
son City,  where  he  expects  to  arrive  in  August 
witn  fresh  meat  for  the  miners.  This  Dalton 
trail  is  well  dapted  for  driving  stock,  but  for 
men  to  tramp  it  is  believed  to  be  too  long. 

One  who  is  now  at  the  Klondike  diggings 
writes  from  there  of  his  journey  overland  as  fol- 
lows: 

"We  arrived  here  from  Dyea  after  seventy 
days  of  the  hardest  travel  I  ever  experienced. 
We  had  all  our  provisions  in  cachet  at  Chilkoot 
Pass.  We  loaded  everything  on  three  sleds  and 
turned  them  loose  down  the  three-mile  declivity. 
They  landed  all  safe  at  the  bottom  on  the  Yukon 
side. 

"Then  we  followed,  winging  and  tumbling 
after.  We  crossed  Lake  Lindeman  on  the  ice  all 
right  at  the  foot  of  ihe  mountams  and  got  safely 
to  the  head  of  Lake  Bennett.  By  this  time  the 
weather  was  getting  warmer  and  the  snow  melt- 
ing.   The  snow  crust  on  the  lake  would  support 


SEEKING  THE  POT  OF  GOLD.  6l 

the  sleds,  but  we  broke  through  at  every  step, 
and  there  was  about  a  foot  of  slush  under  tne 
crust.  After  wading-  this  way  for  two  days  and 
having  traversed  but  four  miles  we  went  into 
camp  to  wait  for  a  cold  snap  or  more  of  a  thaw 
to  break  up  the  ice.  We  lay  in  camp  for  three 
days,  and  then  came  a  cold  spell,  the  wind  blow- 
ing a  gale. 

"When  we  struck  Marsh  Lake  the  weather 
had  become  warm  again,  and  it  took  us  three 
days  to  make  seven  miles  through  eight  inches 
of  slush,  so  we  waded  into  a  good  patch  of  tim- 
ber and  remained  there  fourteen  davs  building  a 
boat.  It  took  us  six  days  to  fell  the  trees  and 
saw  the  boards  out. 

"When  we  got  to  the  great  Yukon  we  launch- 
ed our  little  craft  and  tried  her  in  the  swift  cur- 
rent of  the  mighty  river  (a  river  as  large  as  the 
Mississippi)  and  found  she  would  answer  our 
purpose  very  well.  The  next  day  we  came  to  a 
canon  called  'Miller's  Canon,'  the  most  danger- 
ous place  on  the  river,  where  many  a  party  have 
lost  all  they  had,  and  their  lives,  too.  It  is  a 
steep  cut  through  the  mountain  range.  The  wa- 
ter rushes  through  with  frightful  speed.  There 
is  a  long,  devious  way  around  the  canon  by  land 


62  KLCKEIKE. 

which  requires  four  days'  hard  work  to  get  over, 
while  to  shoot  the  canon  only  takes  two  and 
one-half  minutes. 

"As  soon  as  the  boat  entered  the  canon  she 
seemed  to  shiver  and  then  plunged  head  fore- 
most into  the  first  waves,  and  about  a  half  bar- 
rel of  water  came  over  the  bow.  Then  she 
straightened  out  and  rode  through  the  rapids 
without  shipping  a  drop  more  water.  We  con- 
tinued down  the  river  to  Lake  Labarge,  thirty- 
live  miles.  There  our  boat  riding  ended  for  the 
present,  the  lake  being  still  frozen  solid.  It  is 
thirty  miles  long.  The  ice  was  smooth  as  glass, 
so  we  rigged  up  two  sails  on  the  boat  (which 
we  had  deposited  on  two  sleds). 

"Two  days  later  we  once  more  launched  into 
the  friendly  Yukon  and  floated  calmly  down  the 
river  to  Klondike,  a  distance  of  four  hundred 
miles  from  the  last  lake,  in  eight  days." 

There  is  talk  already  of  building  a  railroad  in- 
to the  gold  diggings,  and  the  Canadian  Govern- 
ment has  been  asked  to  help.  An  appropriation 
of  $5000  was  passed  by  the  present  Parliament 
to  send  surveyors  into  the  field. 

Two  routes  are  suggested — one  from  a  point 
on  the  Canadian  Pacific,  the  other  from  Dyea. 


5,        "%'m^,\. 


f^:: 


LIFE  IN  CAMP.  63 

It  is  said  that  neither  offers  serious  difficulties 
from  an  engineering  point  of  view.  From  Dyea 
only  eighty  miles  of  road  would  have  to  be  built, 
the  rest  of  the  route  being  to  the  mines  by  means 
of  the  lakes  and  rivers.  This  road  would  abolish 
the  peril  of  the  Chilkoot  Pass.  The  other  route 
is  500  miles  long  and  entirely  within  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  while  the 
Dyea  route  would  have  its  terminus  in  the  soil 
of  the  United  States.  The  day  may  not  be  far 
distant  when  the  Alaskan  country  will  be  tra- 
versed by  rail  from  the  Canadian  Pacific  to  Be- 
ring Straits.  American  enterprise  may  run  a 
road  all  alone:  the  coast  from  Seattle  to  Asia. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


LIFE  IN  CAMP. 

A  mining  camp  is  always  a  spot  of  intense  hu- 
man interest.  It  is  the  breaking  of  the  frontier 
— the  first  contact  of  civilization  with  the  v/ilder- 
ness — and  it  brings  into  play  all  the  rough  ele- 
mental qualities  of  the  human  animal.  The  Yu- 
kon minmg  camps  have  been  little  worlds  by 


64  KLONDIKE. 

themselves,  isolated  and  ice-bound,  and  they  have 
been  rich  in  incident,  tho-wgh  from  all  accounts 
they  seem  to  have  lacked  the  easy  indifference 
to  the  sanctity  of  human  life  which  characterized 
the  earlier  mining  camps  of  California  and  Col- 
orado. Forty  Mile  Post,  for  example,  has  been 
described  as  a  characteristic  gold  town  in  every 
way  but  one.  It  boasts  the  company  stores,  an 
opera  house,  a  barber  shop,  two  bakeries,  two 
restaurants,  three  billiard  parlors,  two  terpsi- 
chorean  resorts,  several  distilleries  and  ten  sa- 
loons. Its  exceptional  feature  is  the  utter  ab- 
sence of  that  lawlessness  and  disorder  always 
looked  for  in  frontier  places.  This  same  peaceful 
state  of  affairs  obtains  throughout  the  country. 
Law  there  is  none,  except  miner's  law,  that  stern, 
Draconian  code,  which  decrees  the  extreme  pen- 
alty for  the  least  offense.  The  fact  that  there  has 
never  been  a  lynching  or  shooting  affray  there  is 
testimony  of  the  efficiency  of  self-government, 
where  the  consent  of  the  governed  has  been  se- 
cured. 

It  is  not  unlikely  that  some  part  of  the  general 
obedience  is  due  to  the  liberality  with  which  the 
moral  obligation  is  construed.  The  Yukon  Deca- 
logue contains  rather  less  than  ten  command- 


LIFE  IN  CAMP.  65 

ments.  Thou  shalt  not  avoid  thy  just  debts: 
thou  shalt  not  kill;  thou  shalt  not  steal;  thou  shait 
not  covet  thy  neighbor's  claim,  nor  his  sluice- 
boxes,  nor  his  cabin,  nor  his  mission  squaw,  nor 
anything  that  is  his,  make  up  the  prohibited  list. 

One  can  hang  a  sack  of  gold  dust  outside  of 
his  cabin  and  it  is  perfectly  safe.  One  saloon- 
keeper has  $160,000  in  gold  in  a  little  shack  and 
he  never  locks  his  door. 

A  returning  traveler  says  the  only  reminder  of 
law  and  vested  authority  that  he  saw  on  the  en- 
tire journey  down  the  Yukon  was  at  Forty  Mile, 
or,  to  speak  more  precisely,  at  Fort  Cudahy, 
whcih  is  across  the  bend  of  the  river  a  mile  or 
two  away  from  the  former  place.  There  was  a 
low  stockade  and  a  flagpole  with  the  union  jack 

flying- 
There  is  a  detachment  of  twenty-iive  Canadian 
mounted  police  stationed  here  and  a  magistrate, 
ind  the  whole  machinery  of  the  law  as  applied  to 
territories  is  in  operation.  They  have  very  little 
to  do  in  maintining  order,  and  the  police  may 
be  pardoned  for  assuming  a  little  commission  on 
the  side,  as  it  were,  in  going  over  the  line  into 
American  territory  to  put  Messres.  Van  Wagenen 
5 


66  KLONDIKE. 

and  Hestvvood  in  possession  of  their  mine,  which 
was  held  by  indignant  miners. 

The  police  are  a  well-equiped  and  well-drilled 
body  of  men,  armed  with  Lee-Metford  rifles.  As 
cavalry  or  mounted  police  they  are  out  of  their 
element,  as  it  is  impracticable  to  use  horses  here. 

It  is  now  proposed  by  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment to  establish  an  army  post  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  diggings,  with  headquarters  prob- 
ably at  Circle  City.  The  troops  will  act  as  po- 
lice. 

There  is  a  marked  diflference  between  the  atti- 
tude of  the  two  governments  toward  their  pion- 
eers. Four-fifths  of  the  men  in  the  interior  are 
Americans,  and  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  whole 
number  have  been  in  American  territory.  On  the 
British  side,  with  one-fourth  the  interest  at  stake, 
the  Canadians  have  a  picked  and  athletic  body  of 
men  ready  to  respond  in  any  emergency.  Should 
disaster  befall  any  man  or  body  of  men  within 
the  Dominion's  jurisdiction,  these  police  would 
hasten  to  the  rescue  as  rapidly  as  it  is  within  hu- 
man power  to  do,  and  without  any  question  as  to 
whether  or  not  the  unfortunates  were  citizens. 

Over  the  line,  in  Alaska,  is  a  stretch  of  coun- 
try where  two  or  three  New  Englands  m.ight  be 


LIFE  IN  CAMP.  67 

thrown  in  at  random  without  touching,  the  dig- 
nity of  the  United  States  is  upheld  by  one  man, 
a  customs  officer,  whose  duties  partake  of  those 
of  a  tax  collector  and  a  detective  combined.  The 
only  solicitude  expressed  is  in  the  way  of  col- 
lecting taxes.  Recently  a  United  States  postmas- 
ter has  been  added  to  the  official  life,  but  nat-urally 
he  has  nothing  to  do  except  handle  mail.  A 
United  States  commissioner  is  the  latest  prom- 
ised acquisition,  although  he  has  not  yet  put  in  a 
form.al  appearance. 

The  most  prevalent  trouble  is  scurvy,  which 
results  from  scarcity  of  vegetables  and  fresh 
meats.  A  diet  of  beans,  salt  pork  and  bad  ba- 
con brings  trouble.  Fresh  meat  is  always  scarce. 
Moose  and  caribou  have  been  killed  off  and  the 
chase  would  not  supply  a  fraction  of  the  popula- 
tion. There  are  graylings  and  other  fish  in  the 
Yukon  and  they  can  be  hooked  through  the  ice, 
but  few  will  stand  out  in  the  middle  of  a  river 
at  60  degrees  below  zero  and  with  time  worth 
$15  a  day.  Last  winter  a  quarter  of  beef  was 
sledded  into  Circle  City  with  dogs.  It  was  view- 
ed with  wonder  at  the  store  for  a  while  and  then 
raffled  ofif  for  $400  for  the  benefit  of  a  projected 
miners'  hospital.     This  spring    an    enterprising 


68  KLONDIKE. 

Juneau  man  drove  forty  head  of  cattle  in  from 
the  coast — 800  miles — and  beef  went  at  50  and 
then  at  70  cents  a  pound.  If  anybody  gets  sick 
there  are  patent  medicines  in  the  stores,  and  four 
or  five  doctors  who  diagnose  a  patient's  claim 
before  presenting  the  bill. 

Winter  in  the  Yukon  Basin  is  not  altogether 
an  unbearable  season.  The  thermometer  often 
falls  to  70  and  even  80  degrees  below  zero,  but 
there  is  neither  wind  nor  moisture,  and  the  ex- 
treme cold  is  not  then  realized.  When  working 
out  of  doors  a  miner  wears  a  thermometer  as  he 
wears  a  watch.  He  consults  it  every  now  and 
then  for  prudence's  sake,  and  when  the  mercury 
freezes  he  knows  that  it  is  time  to  go  in. 

Most  miners  adopt  the  native  dress  of  skin 
trousers  and  parka.  The  best  of  these  shirt-like 
garments  are  brought  over  from  Siberia,  and 
find  ready  sale  at  $25. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  boots,  the  water  boot, 
made  of  seal  and  walrus  skins,  and  the  dry  wea- 
ther or  winter  boot,  made  in  all  sorts  of  fashions, 
some  with  picturesque  fur  trimming.  The  boots 
as  a  rule  are  the  handiwork  of  the  coast  Indians. 
They  range  in  price  from  $2  to  $5  a  pair.  Trou- 
sers are  made  of  Siberian  fawn  skin  and  the  skin 


LIFE  IN  CAMP.  69 

of  the  marmot  or  ground  squirrel.  The  parka 
or  upper  garment  is  usually  made  of  marmot 
skins  and  trimmed  with  wolverine  around  the 
hood  and  lower  edge.  These  parkas  are  some- 
times very  elaborate,  with  hair  six  inches  in 
length  hanging  from  the  hood  to  protect  the 
face,  or  made  of  fawn  skins  and  trimmed  with 
the  fur  of  the  white  wolf.  These  elaborate  par- 
kas are  usually  worn  by  the  women  and  differ 
in  shape  somewhat  from  those  worn  by  the  men. 
They  are  sometimes  beautifully  embroidered 
with  colored  skins  and  ornamented  with  otter's 
fur  and  dyed  feather'?,  and  iliey  have  been  known 
to  cost  as  high  as  $ioo  apiece.  Flannels  are 
worn  underneath  and  the  dress  is  described  by 
those  wdio  have  worn  it  as  weighing  less  than 
the  ordinary  clothes  of  a  country  where  the  ther- 
mometer only  falls  to  zero. 

Women  who  have  drifted  in  from  the  coast 
received  an  odd  rebuke  from  Captain  Constan- 
tine,  of  the  Territorial  police.  The  women  nat- 
urally put  on  bloomers  in  coming  over  the 
mountains,  and  when  they  got  on  the  other  side 
they  continued  to  wear  bloomers  altogether. 
Bloomers  were  more  than  Captain  Constantine 
would  stand,  and  he  gave  orders  that  if  the  bloo- 
mers did  not  go  the  wearers  would. 


70  KLONDIKE. 

Help  is  scarce.  Indians  wlio  cannot  speak 
either  English  or  Chinook  receive  $60  per 
month  and  all  the  tobacco  they  can  use.  These 
are  willing  to  help,  but  with  the  judgment  of 
children.  Every  white  man  that  will  act  as  boss 
of  a  gang  is  pressed  into  service. 

Gold  dust  and  nuggets  take  the  place  of  cur- 
rency in  the  new  diggings  and  throughout  the 
Yukon  Basin.  There  is  little  money  in  circula- 
tion. Every  man  carries  a  pair  of  gold  scales, 
and  people  learn  to  make  change  as  quickly  as 
with  coin.  A  hair  cut  costs  75  cents  in  gold  dust, 
a  glass  of  whisky  50  cents,  and  during  the  winter 
season,  when  the  thermometer  ranges  between 
zero  and  70  degrees  below,  whisky  is  sometimes 
sold  in  solid  blocks.  The  established  value  of 
gold  dust  is  $17  an  ounce.  Nuggets  of  one  and 
two  ounces  are  by  no  means  uncommon. 

The  principal  sport  with  mining  men  is  found 
around  the  gambling  table.  There  they  gather 
after  nightfall  and  play  until  the  late  hours  in 
the  morning.  They  have  some  big  games,  too. 
It  sometimes  costs  as  much  as  fifty  dollars  to 
draw  a  card.  A  game  with  $2000  as  stakes  is 
an  ordinary  event.  But  with  all  that  there  has 
not  been  any  decided  trouble.    If  a  man  is  fussy 


LIFE  IN  CAMP.  71 

and  quarrelsome,  he  is  quietly  told  to  get  out  of 
the  game,  and  that  is  the  end  of  it. 

Drinks  are  50  cents,  and  returned  miners  say 
that  when  they  left  some  of  the  saloons  were  tak- 
ing in  $1000  to  $2000  a  day. 

Whisky  will  be  plentiful  hereafter,  even  if  food 
is  not.  One  trader  has  secured  a  permit  to  send 
in  2000  gallons  of  liquor. 

The  Alaska  Commercial  Company  and  the 
Northwestern  Transportation  and  Trading  Com- 
pany have  each  received  permission  to  ship  across 
the  border  5000  gallons. 

Many  people  have  an  idea  that  Dawson  City 
is  completely  isolated  and  can  communicate  with 
the  outside  world  only  once  in  twelve  months. 
That  is  a  mistake.  Circle  City,  only  a  few  miles 
away,  has  a  mail  once  each  month,  and  there  the 
Dawson  City  men  have  their  mail  addressed.  It 
is  true  the  cost  is  pretty  high,  one  dollar  a  letter 
and  two  dollars  for  a  paper;  yet  by  that  expendi- 
ture of  money  they  are  able  to  keep  in  direct  com- 
munication with  their  friends  on  the  outside. 

The  camp  is  at  present  without  any  public  in- 
stitutions, but  by  next  season  they  will  have  a 
church,  a  music  hall,  a  school  house  and  a  hos- 
pital.   This  last  institution  will  be  under  the  di- 


72  KLONDIKE. 

rect  control  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  who  have 
already  been  stationed  for  a  long-  time  at  Circle 
City  and  Forty  Mile  Camp.  Nearly  a  score  of 
children  were  in  Dawson  City  when  the  last  party 
left,  and  Joseph  Ladue,  who  owns  the  town  site, 
donated  a  lot  and  one  hundred  dollars  for  a 
school.  No  one  can  buy  anything  on  credit  in 
Dawson.  It  is  spot  cash  for  every  one,  and  pay- 
ment is  always  gold  dust.  Very  few  have  any 
regular  money. 

The  rqosquito  is  an  almost  intolerable  pest. 
In  the  Yukon  region  he  is  so  small  that  the  finest 
netting  cannot  keep  him  out,  but  his  voracity  is 
seemingly  boundless. 

During  the  summer  this  pest  gives  the  popula- 
tion no  rest.  The  deepest  canon  and  the  loftiest 
mountain  top,  the  open  ground  or  the  thickest 
forest  being  equally  infested.  The  only  relief,  if 
it  can  be  called  relief,  is  when  the  winds  blow 
the  insects  to  less  windy  altitudes;  but  it  is  not 
an  every  day  occurrence  for  the  wind  to  blow. 
Lieutenant  Schwatka,  in  his  account  of  his  trip 
to  Alaska,  says  that  bears  under  stress  of  hunger 
sometimes  come  down  to  the  river  in  mosquito 
season  and  are  attacked  by  swarms  of  insects, 
which  sting  them  about  the  eyes  so  that  they  go 
blind  and  die  of  starvation. 


LIFE  IN  CAMP.  73 

There  is  one  side  of  the  Klondike  picture 
which  has  been  kept  in  the  background,  bat 
about  which  whispers  are  beginning  to  be  heard. 
It  is  a  picture  of  suffering  and  starvation.  One 
of  the  returned  fortune  makers  is  quoted  as  say- 
ing: 

"You  would  find  it  easier  to  believe  the  most 
wonderful  yarns  I  could  tell  you  of  the  wealth 
of  the  country  than  some  of  the  hardships  I  have 
known  many  men  to  undergo.  Men  can  suffer 
a  great  deal  and  almost  forget  it  if  they  eventual- 
ly become  rich,  but  for  every  man  who  has  re- 
turned with  a  sack  of  dust  there  are  now  one 
hundred  poor  devils  stranded  and  starving  in 
that  country. 

"When  I  say  starving  I  mean  it  literally.  It 
seems  incredible  that  a  man  would  see  another 
— his  neighbor,  at  that — slowly  dying  by  inches 
for  want  of  food  and  deliberately  refuse  him  a 
pound  of  bacon  or  pint  of  beans,  yet  that  thing 
is  happening  every  day,  and  God  only  knows 
how  many  frozen  corpses  will  make  food  for 
wolves  on  Klondike  this  winter.  When  I  left 
there  was  not  enough  food  in  the  country  to  sup- 
ply those  already  there,  and  as  boats  cannot  take 
in  much  more  before  the  river  freezes,  how  are 


74  KLONDIKE. 

hundreds  now  on  their  way  there  to  exist?  It 
is  not  that  men  are  selfish  or  avaricious,  but  few 
of  the  old  miners  have  more  than  enough  to  keep 
them  through  the  winter,  and  it  is  only  a  ques- 
tion of  preserving  their  own  lives  or  those  of 
others." 

It  is  likely  to  be  as  bad  next  winter.  The 
united  efforts  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Com- 
pany and  the  North  American  Transportation 
and  Trading  Company  cannot  transport  over 
4500  tons  of  freight  up  the  river  this  season,  and 
not  until  next  February  can  stuff  be  freighted 
over  from  Dyea,  Juneau  and  other  points  down 
along  the  southern  coast.  Prices  for  food  and 
other  supplies  were  almost  beyond  belief  last 
winter.  Flour  was  $120  a  hundred  weight  at 
one  time,  and  beef  from  $1  to  $2  a  pound.  Moose 
hams  sold  for  about  $30,  or  $2  a  pound.  Ordi- 
nary shovels  for  digging  brought  $17  and  .$18 
apiece.  A  few  crates  of  eggs  were  brought  in 
about  March  i  by  pack  horses,  and  these  sold 
readily  for  $3  to  $5  a  dozen,  Tliey  were  not 
fresh  by  any  means. 

Wages,  however,  Avere  proportional;  $2  per 
hour  were  common  wages  and  even  in  the  sum- 
mer a  man  can  command  $1.50  per  hour,  or 
from  $15  to  $20  a  day. 


LIFE  IN  CAMP.  75 

A  new  arrival  at  Dawson  City,  writing  to  his 
brother,  says: 

"This  is  a  great  camp,  and  a  conservative  es- 
timate of  its  richness  sounds  Hke  exaggeration. 
I  have  been  here  now  twelve  days  and  cannot 
get  a  hold  of  anything.  I  cannot  even  buy  a 
foot  of  ground  in  the  town,  not  to  mention  the 
diggings,  values  are  so  extremely  high.  Every 
foot  of  ground  in  this  district  is  claimed,  and 
there  are  hundreds  of  prospectors  in  the  adjacent 
country  looking  for  other  rich  ground.  The 
gravel  must  be  very  rich  in  gold  or  nobody 
wants  it.  From  the  amount  of  gold  dust  and 
nuggets  I  have  seen  in  Klondike,  and  the  mad 
hunt  for  it,  the  district  must  be  all  they  claim 
for  it." 

The  mines  of  the  Yukon  are  of  a  class  by 
themselves,  and  it  is  necessary  to  follow  new 
methods  for  getting  the  gold.  To  begin  with, 
the  ground  is  frozen.  From  the  roots  of  the 
moss,  which  is  often  a  foot  thick,  to  the  greatest 
depth  that  ever  has  been  reached  the  ground  is 
as  hard  as  a  bone.  The  gold  is  found  in  a  cer- 
tain drift  of  gravel,  which  lies  at  varying  depths, 
often  as  far  down  as  twenty  feet.  Only  that  por- 
tion of  the  gravel  just  above  hard  pan — by  which 


76  KLONDIKE. 

is  usually  meant  clay — carries  gold  in  any  quan- 
tity, and  in  favored  localities  this  particular 
gravel  is  extraordinarily  rich. 

As  in  nearly  all  placer  mines,  the  low  pla:?s 
of  what  has  formerly  been  the  bed  of  the  creek 
are  the  richest,  the  deposits  decreasing  toward 
the  outer  edges. 

The  size  of  a  claim  is  fixed  by  agreement 
among  the  miners  of  any  particular  locality.  Tt 
is  a  section  of  the  creek  of  a  certain  length — 
sometimes  200  feet,  sometimes  500 — and  it  ex- 
tends from  rim  to  rim  in  width.  The  reason  of 
this  variableness  in  the  size  of  the  claims  on  the 
different  creeks  is  that  on  some  a  greater  length 
is  required  to  make  them  worth  a  man's  while  to 
work  them.  The  paying  deposits  may  be  scat- 
tered so  a  man  could  make  wages  only  by  work- 
ing here  and  there  over  a  large  territory.  Of 
course,  the  conditions  surrounding  the  first  dis- 
covery made  on  a  creek  are  the  basis  for  fixing 
the  size  of  a  claim  on  that  stream.  The  discov- 
erer of  a  new  field  is  allowed  two  claims,  while 
all  others  are  permitted  to  take  but  one  at  a  time. 
However,  when  a  locater  has  worked  out  his  as- 
sessment of  a  few  days'  work  he  is  at  liberty  to 
take  another.    When  a  sufficient  number  of  men 


LIFE  IN  CAMP.  77 

arrive  on  a  new  creek  to  make  it  impracticable 
to  work  together  in  harmony  without  organiza- 
tion, they  hold  a  meeting  and  elect  one  of  their 
number  as  a  register  or  clerk,  and  thereafter  a 
record  is  made  of  all  locations  and  all  transfers, 
for  which  a  small  fee  is  charged. 

In  prospecting  the  usual  method  is  followed, 
i,  e.,  sinking  holes  to  bed  rock  across  the  stream 
and  testing  the  dirt  until  the  pay  streak  is  found. 

Having  located  his  claim,  the  miner  scrapes 
ofif  as  much  moss  as  he  can,  and,  turning  a 
stream  of  water  on  to  the  frozen  ground,  grad- 
ually thaws,  scrapes  and  digs  his  ditch.  The 
gold  lies  at  bed  rock,  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  below 
the  surface.  A  drainage  ditch  must  then  be  dug, 
a  dam  built  and  sluice  boxes  placed. 

Winter  mining  has  been  experimented  with 
to  some  extent.  Work  cannot  be  started  until 
the  cold  weather  is  settled  beyond  the  possibility 
of  a  surface  thaw,  nor  can  it  be  continued  beyond 
the  first  promise  of  spring.  A  fire  is  built  and 
kept  burning  until  the  ground  beneath  is  thawed 
to  bed  rock,  after  which  the  drift  is  removed, 
leaving  a  hole  several  feet  wide.  By  banking 
the  fires  against  the  side  of  the  hole  every  night 
and  removing  the  soft  earth  next  morning,   a 


78  KLONDIKE. 

tunnel  is  formed.  A  foot  and  a  half  a  day  is  as 
much  as  the  greatest  industry  can  accomplish, 
but  that  amounts  to  150  feet  in  the  season.  The 
pay  dirt  is  piled  up  and  is  not  washed  until  the 
following  spring. 


CHAPTER  V. 


MINING  EXPERTS  AND  SCIENTISTS. 

Professor  N.  S.  Shaler,  who  is  perhaps  the 
best  living  American  authority  on  geology,  has 
been  telling  his  classes  at  Harvard  for  the  last 
twenty  years  that  the  coming  great  discoveries 
of  gold  on  this  continent  would  be  in  Alaska. 
The  possibilities  for  bonanza  finds  among  the 
Sierras,  he  explained,  had  been  narrowed  to  a 
point  where  there  was  little  opportunity  except 
to  develop  known  veins,  but  in  the  great  exten- 
sion of  the  Rocky  Mountain  system  to  the  North 
there  doubtless  lay  the  mother  vein,  which  soon- 
er or  later  would  come  to  light. 

Professor  Shaler's  prophecy,  based  on  scien- 
tific deductions,  has  come  true,  and  other  scien- 


MINING  EXPERTS  AND  SCIENTISTS.  79 

tists  now  agree  with  him  that  the  Alaskan  coun- 
try contains  hmitless  possibiHties  for  the  discov- 
ery of  gold. 

And  not  the  scientists  alone.  So  hard-headed 
a  pioneer  as  John  W.  Mackay,  the  last  and  great- 
est of  the  bonanza  kings,  who  went  into  the  Cal- 
ifornia gold  fields  and  dug  out  a  fabulous  for- 
tune, which  has  been  growing  ever  since,  ex- 
presses his  belief  in  the  reports  of  the  marvelous 
richness  of  the  newly-discovered  fields. 

"I  have  no  reason  to  doubt  them,"  he  says. 
"I  have  had  great  confidence  in  the  mining  pos- 
sibilities in  British  Columbia  and  Alaska — have 
always  believed  that  those  frozen,  almost  inac- 
cessible regions  contain  heavy  deposits  of  pre- 
cious metals.  Some  enormous  'finds'  of  gold 
have  undoubtedly  been  made  there,  and  yet  we 
know  little  or  nothing  of  the  possibilities  of  the 
country.  Think  of  Williams'  Creek,  for  instance, 
in  the  Caribou  region  in  British  Columbia.  As 
long  ago  as  i860  something  like  fifty  millions  of 
gold  were  taken  out.  It  was  placer  mining  there, 
just  the  same  as  the  Klondike." 

Mr.  Mackay  believes  that  in  time  modern  min- 
ing methods  will  be  carried  up  into  the  Yukon 
country,  and  that  all  parts  of  the  country  will  be 


80  KLONDIKE. 

opened.  "Capital,"  he  says,  "will  always  go 
where  there  is  a  chance  for  legitimate  investment, 
and  transportation  facilities  will  increase  as  rap- 
idly as  the  travelers." 

Mr.  Mackay  thinks  the  excitement  over  the 
discoveries  may  increase.  "I  see  in  it,"  he  says, 
"something  like  the  excitement  of  the  early  fifties 
over  the  gold  discoveries  of  the  Pacific  coast  re- 
gion. The  reports  of  rich  individual  finds  are 
likely  to  continue,  and  the  arrival  of  every  ship 
loaded  with  fortunate  gold  hunters  will  stimu- 
late the  imagination,  hopes  and  desires  of  the 
would-be  gold  hunters.  We  hear  nothing  of  the 
failures.  One  man  who  is  lucky  is  more  talked 
about  than  a  thousand  who  fail." 

Mr.  Mackay  says  that  his  experience  in  Cali- 
fornia was  that  about  one  man  in  ten  used  to  get 
on,  and  by  "getting  on"  he  means  not  becoming 
a  millionaire,  but  making  a  living  and  a  little 
more. 

R.  E.  Preston,  the  Director  of  the  United 
States  Mint,  has  become  convinced  of  the  great 
possibilities  in  the  Klondike  region.  While  he 
thinks  it  is  as  yet  too  early  to  hail  the  Klondike 
as  a  new  Eldorado,  he  says  the  history  of  gold 
production   in    Alaska    hitherto    would   prepare 


MINING  EXPERTS  AND  SCIENTISTS.  81 

the  mind  for  the  acceptance  of  a  behef  in  the 
HkeHhood  of  further  gold  discoveries  in  that  re- 
gion or  its  proximity. 

"The  gold  product  of  Alaska  thus  far,"  he  says, 
"has  been  remarkable  rather  for  its  regularity 
than  its  amount,  and  is  therefore  more  favorable 
to  the  permanency  of  development  of  the  mineral 
resources  than  if  it  were  subject  to  violent  fluc- 
tuation. 

"Nature  seems  to  have  sprinkled  Alaska  and 
all  Asiatic  Russia  with  gold.  The  latter  region 
sends  annually  over  $25,000,000  to  the  mint  at 
St.  Petersburg.  The  production  of  gold  there  is 
such  that  the  annual  output  of  the  Russian  Em- 
pire would,  it  is  claimed,  exceed  $50,000,000 
were  it  not  for  the  obstacles  put  in  the  way  of 
human  industry  by  an  inclement  climate  and  an 
inhospitable  soil." 

Dr.  W.  H.  Dall,  of  the  Smithsonian  Institu- 
tion at  Washington,  who  has  for  years  been  re- 
garded as  the  highest  authority  on  the  Alaskan 
country  and  who  is  a  geologist  of  note,  says  he 
has  no  doubt  of  the  truth  of  the  stories  told  of 
the  richness  of  the  Yukon  soil. 

"The  gold-bearing  belt  of  Northwestern 
America,"  he  says,  "contains  all  the  gold  fields 
6 


82  KLONDIKE. 

extending  into  British  Columbia  and  what  is 
known  as  the  Northwest  Territories  and  Alaska. 
The  Yukon  really  runs  along  in  that  belt  for  500 
or  600  miles.  The  bed  of  the  main  river  is  in 
the  valley.  The  yellow  metal  is  not  found  in 
paying  quantities  in  the  main  river,  but  in  the 
small  streams  which  cut  through  the  mountains 
on  either  side.  Mud  and  mineral  matter  are  car- 
ried into  the  main  river,  while  the  gold  is  left  on 
the  rough  bottom  of  these  side  streams.  In  most 
cases  the  gold  lies  at  the  bottom  of  thick  gravel 
deposits.  The  gold  is  covered  with  frozen  gravel 
in  the  winter.  During  the  summer  until  the 
snow  is  all  melted,  the  surface  is  covered  with 
muddy  torrents.  When  summer  is  over  and  the 
springs  begin  to  freeze,  the  streams  dry  up.  At 
the  approach  of  winter,  in  order  to  get  at  the 
gold  the  miners  find  it  necessary  to  dig  into  the 
gravel  formation." 

George  Frederick  Wright,  professor  of  geol- 
ogy at  Oberlin  College,  thinks  that  the  "mother 
lode"  may  be  looked  for  successfully  in  Alaska. 
In  his  opinion  it  exists  somewhere  up  the 
streams  on  which  the  placer  mines  are  found. 
The  source  of  the  Klondike  gold,  he  says,  is 
from  the  south,  and    the    gold    was  doubtless 


MINING  EXPERTS  AND  SCIENTISTS.  83 

transported  by  glacier  action.  The  Klondike  re- 
gion is  on  the  north  side  of  the  St.  Elias  Alps, 
and  the  glaciers  flowed  both  north  and  south 
from  these  summits. 

"Placer  mines,"  says  Professor  Wright,  "orig- 
inate in  the  disintegration  of  gold-bearing  quartz 
veins,  or  mass  like  that  at  Juneau.  Under  sub- 
aerial  agencies  these  become  dissolved.  Then 
the  glaciers  transport  the  material  as  far  as  they 
go,  when  the  floods  of  water  carry  it  on  still  fur- 
ther. Gold,  being  heavier  than  the  other  ma- 
terials associated  with  it,  lodges  in  the  crevices 
or  in  the  rough  places  at  the  bottom  of  the 
streams.  So  to  speak,  nature  has  stamped  and 
'panned'  the  gravel  first  and  prepared  the  way 
for  man  to  finish  the  work.  The  amount  of  gold 
found  in  the  placer  mines  is  evidence  not  so 
much,  perhaps,  of  a  very  rich  vein  as  of  the  dis- 
integration of  a  very  large  vein." 

"What  the  prospectors  have  found  points  to 
more.  The  unexplored  region  is  immense.  The 
mountains  to  the  south  are  young,  havmg  been 
elevated  very  much  since  the  climax  of  the  gla- 
cial period.  With  these  discoveries  and  the  suc- 
cess in  introducing  reindeer,  Alaska  bids  fair  to 
support  a  population  eventually  of  several  mil- 
lions." 


84  KLONDIKE. 

William  Van  Slooten,  an  eminent  mining  en- 
gineer and  metallurgist,  sees  in  the  reports  from 
the  Klondike  indications  of  a  more  extraordi- 
nary deposit  of  gold  than  that  of  California.  He 
says: 

"No  such  specifically  large  amounts  of  gold 
v  ere  taken  out  by  individuals  during  any  similar 
period  of  California  gold  hunting.  Two  months 
of  work  in  the  water  has  realized  more  than  any 
six  months  heretofore  known  in  the  history  of 
gold  mining. 

"We  had  long  been  aware  that  there  was  gold 
in  tne  Yukon  basin,  but  the  total  output  for  the 
last  ten  years  before  the  Klondike  developments 
amounted  to  not  more  than  a  million  dollars' 
worth  at  the  utmost.  Now,  within  two  months, 
five  millions  have  been  taken  out  of  the  Klon- 
dike regions.  It  took  the  first  eight  months  of 
work  in  California  to  pan  out  that  amount  under 
infinitely  more  favorable  conditions  of  climate 
and  weather.    That  is  a  straw  worth  noting." 

The  latest  and  therefore  the  most  important 
official  investigation  of  the  gold  fields  is  that 
conducted  under  the  auspices  of  the  United 
States  Geological  Survey  in  i8q6  by  J.  Edward 
Spurr,  accompanied  by  two  geologic  assistants. 


MINING  EXPERTS  AND  SCIENTISTS.  86 

The  expedition  was  sent  out  in  accordance  with 
an  appropriation  by  Congress  of  $5000  for  the 
investigation  of  the  coal  and  gold  resources  of 
Alaska.  A  like  appropriation  for  the  year  be- 
fore resulted  in  the  expedition  headed  by  Dr. 
George  F.  Becker,  which  investigated  the  gold 
fields  of  Southern  Alaska.  Mr.  Spurr's  party 
crossed  the  Chilkoot  Pass  about  the  middle  of 
June  and  passed  down  the  Yukon  in  a  small, 
roughly-built  boat  to  the  crossing  of  Forty-Mile 
Creek.  A  summary  of  his  report  was  submitted 
to  Congress  by  the  director  of  the  Geological 
Survey  through  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
February  2,  1897.  Mr.  Spurr's  party  and  Dr. 
Becker's  both  took  numerous  photographs  along 
the  routes  they  traversed.  It  appears  from  Mr. 
Spurr's  report  that  the  gold  belt  is  likely  to  be 
found  running  in  a  direction  a  little  west  of  north- 
west. 

Running  in  a  direction  a  little  west  of  north- 
west through  the  territory  examined  is  a  broad, 
continuous  belt  of  highly  altered  rocks.  To  the 
east  this  belt  is  known  to  be  continuous  for  100 
miles  or  more  in  British  territory.  The  rocks 
constituting  this  belt  are  mostly  crystalline 
schists    associated    with    marbles    and    sheared 


86  KLONDIKE. 

quartzites,  indicating  a  sedimentary  origin  for  a 
large  part  of  the  series.  In  the  upper  part  a  few 
plant  remains  were  found,  which  suggest  that 
this  portion  is  probably  of  Devonian  age.  These 
altered  sedimentary  rocks  have  been  shattered  by 
volcanic  action,  and  they  are  pierced  by  many 
dikes  of  eruptive  rock.  Besides  the  minor  vol- 
canic disturbances,  there  have  been  others  on  a 
large  scale,  which  have  resulted  in  the  formation 
of  continuous  ridges  or  mountain  ranges.  In 
this  process  of  mountain  building  the  sedimen- 
tary rocks  have  been  subjected  to  such  pressure 
and  to  such  alteration  from  attendant  forces  that 
they  have  been  squeezed  into  the  condition  of 
schist,  and  often  partly  or  wholly  crystallized,  so 
that  their  original  character  has  in  some  cases 
entirely  disappeared.  In  summarizing,  it  may  be 
said  that  the  rocks  of  the  gold  belt  of  Alaska  con- 
sist largely  of  sedimentary  beds  older  than  the 
Carboniferous  period;  that  these  beds  have  un- 
dergone extensive  alteration,  and  have  been  ele- 
vated into  mountain  ranges  and  cut  through  by 
a  variety  of  igneous  rocks. 

Throughout  these  altered  rocks  there  are 
found  veins  of  quartz  often  carrying  pyrite  and 
gold.     It  appears  that  these  quartz  veins  were 


MINING  EXPERTS  AND  SCIENTISTS.  87 

formed  during  the  disturbance  attending  the  up- 
lift and  alteration  of  the  beds.  Many  of  the  veins 
have  been  cut,  sheared  and  torn  into  fragments 
by  the  force  that  has  transformed  the  sedimen- 
tary rocks  into  crystalline  schist;  but  there  are 
others,  containing  gold,  silver  and  copper,  that 
have  not  been  very  much  disturbed  or  broken. 
These  more  continuous  ore-bearing  zones  have 
not  the  character  of  ordinary  quartz  veins,  al- 
though they  contain  much  silica.  Instead  of  the 
usual  white  quartz  veins,  the  ore  occurs  in  a 
sheared  and  altered  zone  of  rock  and  gradually 
runs  out  on  both  sides.  So  far  as  yet  known, 
these  continuous  zones  of  ore  are  of  relatively 
low  grade.  Concerning  the  veins  of  white  quartz 
first  mentioned,  it  is  certain  that  most  of  them 
which  contain  gold  carry  it  only  in  small  quan- 
tity, and  yet  some  few  are  known  to  be  very  rich 
in  places,  and  it  is  extremely  probable  that  there 
are  many  in  which  the  whole  of  the  ore  is  of 
comparatively  high  grade. 

No  quartz  or  vein  mining  of  any  kind  has  yet 
been  attempted  in  the  Yukon  district,  mainly  on 
account  of  the  difBculty  with  which  supplies, 
machinery  and  labor  can  be  obtained;  yet  it  is 
certain  that  there  is  a  vast  quantity  of  gold  in 


88  KLONDIKE. 

these  rocks,  much  of  which  could  be  profitably 
extracted  under  favorable  conditions.  The  gen- 
eral character  of  the  rocks  and  of  the  ore  depos- 
its is  extremely  like  that  of  the  gold-bearing  for- 
mations along  the  southern  coast  of  Alaska,  in 
which  the  Treadwell  and  other  mines  are  situ- 
ated, and  it  is  probable  that  the  richness  of  the 
Yukon  ocks  is  approximately  equal  to  that  of 
the  coast  belt.  It  may  be  added  that  the  re- 
sources of  the  coast  belt  have  been  only  partially 
explored. 

Besides  the  gold  foimd  in  the  rocks  of  the  Yu- 
kon district  there  is  reason  to  expect  paying 
quantities  of  other  minerals.  Deposits  of  silver- 
bearing  lead  have  been  found  in  a  number  of  lo- 
calities, and  copper  is  also  a  constituent  of  many 
of  the  ores. 

Since  the  formation  of  the  veins  and  other  de- 
posits of  the  rocks  of  the  gold  belt  an  enormous 
length  of  time  has  elapsed.  During  that  time  the 
forces  of  erosion  have  stripped  off  the  overlying 
rocks  and  exposed  the  metalliferous  veins  at  the 
surface  for  long  periods,  and  the  rocks  of  the 
gold  belt,  with  the  veins  which  they  include, 
have  crumbled  and  been  carried  away  by  the 
streams,  to  be  deposited  in  widely  different  places 


MINING  EXPERTS  AND  SCIENTISTS.  89 

as  gravels,  or  sands,  or  muds.  As  gold  is  the 
heaviest  of  all  materials  found  in  rock,  it  is  con- 
centrated in  detritus  which  has  been  worked  over 
by  stream  action;  and  the  richness  of  the  placers 
depends  upon  the  available  gold  supply,  the 
amount  of  available  detritus,  and  the  character 
of  the  streams  which  caryy  this  detritus  away. 
In  Alaska  the  streams  have  been  carrying  away 
the  gold  from  the  metalliferous  belt  for  a  very 
long  period,  so  that  particles  of  the  precious 
metal  are  found  in  nearly  all  parts  of  the  Terri- 
tory. It  is  only  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
gold-bearing  belt,  however,  that  the  particles  of 
gold  are  large  and  plentiful  enough  to  repay 
working,  under  present  conditions.  Where  a 
stream  heads  in  the  gold  belt,  the  richest  dig- 
gings are  likely  to  be  near  its  extreme  upper 
part. 

In  this  upper  part  the  current  is  so  swift  that 
the  lighter  material  and  the  finer  gold  are  car- 
ried away,  leaving  in  many  places  a  rich  deposit 
of  coarse  gold  overlain  by  coarse  gravel,  the  peb- 
bles being  so  large  as  to  hinder  rapid  transporta- 
tion by  water.  It  is  under  such  conditions  that 
the  diggings  which  are  now  being  worked  are 
found,  with  some  unimportant  exceptions.     The 


90  KLONDIKE. 

rich  gulches  of  the  Forty  Mile  district  and  of  the 
Birch  Creek  district,  as  well  as  other  fields  of  less 
importance,  all  head  in  the  gold-bearing  forma- 
tion. 

A  short  distance  below  the  heads  of  these 
gulches  the  stream  valley  broadens  and  the  grav- 
els contain  finer  gold  more  widely  distributed. 
Along  certain  parts  of  the  stream  this  finer  gold 
is  concentrated  by  favorable  currents  and  is  of- 
ten profitably  washed,  this  kind  of,  deposit  com- 
ing under  the  head  of  "bar  diggings."  The  gold 
in  these  more  extensive  gravels  is  often  present 
in  sufficient  quantity  to  encourage  the  hope  of 
successful  extraction  at  some  future  time,  when 
the  work  can  be  done  more  cheaply  and  with 
suitable  machinery.  The  extent  of  these  gravels 
which  are  of  possible  value  is  very  great.  As  the 
field  of  observation  is  extended  farther  and  far- 
ther from  the  gold-bearing  belt,  the  gold  occurs 
in  finer  and  finer  condition,  until  it  is  found  only 
in  extremely  small  flakes,  so  light  that  they  can 
be  carried  long  distances  by  the  current. 

It  may  be  stated,  therefore,  as  a  general  rule, 
that  the  profitable  gravels  are  found  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  the  gold  bearing  rock. 

The  gold-bearing  belt  forms  a  range  of  low 


MINING  EXPERTS  AND  SCIENTISTS.  91 

mountains,  and  on  the  flanks  of  these  mountains, 
to  the  northeast  and  to  the  southwest,  lie  various 
younger  rocks  which  range  in  age  from  Carbon- 
iferous to  very  recent  Tertiary,  and  are  made  up 
mostly  of  conglomerates,  sandstones  and  shales, 
with  some  volcanic  material.  These  rocks  were 
formed  subsequent  to  the  ore  deposition,  and 
therefore  do  not  contain  metalliferous  veins. 
They  have  been  partly  derived,  however,  from 
detritus  worn  from  the  gold-bearing  belt  during 
the  long  period  that  it  has  been  exposed  to  ero- 
sion, and  some  of  them  contain  gold  derived  from 
the  more  ancient  rocks  and  concentrated  in  the 
same  way  as  is  the  gold  in  the  present  river  grav- 
els. In  one  or  two  places  it  is  certain  that  these 
conglomerates  are  really  fossil  placers,  and  this 
source  of  supply  may  eventually  turn  out  to  the 
very  important. 

In  the  younger  rocks  which  overlie  the  gold- 
bearing  series  there  are  beds  of  black,  hard,  glos- 
sy, very  pure  lignitic  coal.  An  area  of  these 
coal-bearing  strata  lies  very  close  to  the  gold- 
bearing  district,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  region 
examined,  and  as  the  beds  of  coal  are  often  of 
considerable  thickness  and  the  coal  in  some  of 
them  leaves  very  little  ash  and  contains  volatile 


92  KLONDIKE. 

constituents  in  considerable  amount,  it  is  prob- 
able that  the  coal  deposits  will  become  an  im- 
portant factor  in  the  development  of  the  country. 

There  were  probably  2000  miners  in  the  Yu- 
kon district  during  the  past  season,  the  larger 
number  of  whom  were  actually  engaged  in  wash- 
ing gold.  Probably  1500  of  them  were  working 
in  American  territory,  although  the  migration 
from  one  district  to  another  is  so  rapid  that  one 
year  the  larger  part  of  the  population  may  be  in 
American  territory  and  the  next  year  in  British. 
As  a  rule,  however,  the  miners  prefer  the  Amer- 
ican side,  on  account  of  the  difference  in  mining 
laws.  These  miners,  with  few  exceptions,  were 
engaged  in  gulch  digging.  The  high  price  of 
provisions  and  other  necessaries  raises  the  price 
of  ordinary  labor  in  the  mines  to  $10  per  day, 
and  therefore  no  mine  which  pays  less  than  this 
to  each  man  working  can  be  even  temporarily 
bandied.  Yet  in  spite  of  these  difficulties  there 
v/ere  probably  taken  out  of  the  Yukon  district 
the  past  season,  mostly  from  American  territory, 
approximately  $i,ooo.oco  worth  of  gold. 

An  overland  route  should  be  surveyed  and 
constructed  to  the  interior  of  Alaska.  All  the 
best  routes  which  can  be  suggested  pass  through 


MINING  EXPERTS  AND  SCIENTISTS.  93 

British  territory,  and  the  co-operation  of  the  two 
governments  would  be  mutually  beneficial,  since 
the  gold  belt  lies  partly  in  American  and  partly 
in  British  possessions.  At  the  present  time  Mr. 
Spurr  thinks  that  the  best  route  lies  from  Juneau 
by  way  of  the  Chilkat  Pass  overland  to  the  Yu- 
kon at  the  junction  with  the  Pelly.  This  trail 
is  the  Dalton  trail  which  has  already  been  de- 
scribed, and  it  is  said  to  open  up  a  good 
grazing  country  and  no  great  obstacles  to  over- 
come. The  Chilkat  Pass  is  considerably  lower 
than  the  Chilkoot,  over  which  the  Geological 
Survey  party  of  1896  passed.  If  a  wagon  road, 
or  even  a  good  horse  trail,  could  be  built  as  in- 
dicated, the  cost  of  provisions  and  other  supplies 
would  be  greatly  reduced,  many  gravels  now 
useless  could  be  profitably  v/orked,  and>  employ- 
ment would  be  afiforded  for  many  men.  With 
the  greater  development  of  placer  diggings  would 
come  the  development  of  mines  in  the  bed  rock. 
Besides  the  coal  which  has  been  alluded  to 
there  is  abundant  timber  throughout  the  whole 
of  the  interior  of  Alaska,  along  the  valleys  of 
the  Yukon.  For  four  or  five  months  in  the  sum- 
mer the  climate  is  hardly  to  be  distinguished 
from  that  of  the  northern  United  States — Min- 


94  KLONDIKE. 

nesota  or  Montana,  for  example,  and  although 
the  winters  are  very  severe,  the  snowfall  is  not 
heavy.  Work  could  be  carried  on  underground 
throughout  the  whole  of  the  year  quite  as  well  as 
in  the  higher  mountains  of  Colorado. 

The  area  hastily  examined  during  the  past 
season  is  but  a  portion  of  the  great  interior  of 
Alaska.  That  gold  occurs  over  a  large  extent 
of  country  has  been  determined,  but  the  richness 
of  the  various  veins  and  lodes  remains  to  be  as- 
certained by  actual  mining  operations.  Gold  is 
known  to  occur  in  the  great  unexplored  regions 
south  of  the  Yukon,  because  of  its  presence  in 
the  wash  of  the  streams,  and  it  is  quite  probable 
that  the  Yukon  gold  belt  extends  to  the  north 
and  west;  but  this  can  be  determined  only  by 
further  exploration. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PL.A.CER  MINING  AND  HYDRAULICS. 

There  are  four  stages  in  the  development  of 
newly-discovered  gold  fields,  such  as  those  which 
have  been  brought  to  light  in  the  Yukon  Basin. 

First  come  the  men  with  crude  outfits  and  few 


PLACER  MINING  AND  HYDRAULICS.  96 

resources,  who,  with  pan  and  pick,  gather  the 
gold  that  Hes  near  the  surface,  washing  out  the 
grosser  earths  and  leaving  the  precious  metal 
by  itself.  This  is  placer  mining  in  its  simple 
form. 

After  the  p-old  lying  on  the  surface  and  most 
readily  at  hand  has  been  exhausted  a  little  more 
complicated  process  is  called  into  play.  This  is 
conducted  by  groups  or  associations  of  miners 
who  use  "long  Toms"  and  cradles. 

Hydraulic  mining  is  the  third  stage.  In  hy- 
draulics water  is  brought  from  a  long  distance 
and  applied  to  the  pay  dirt  at  great  pressure  in 
order  to  separate  the  gold  from  the  dross. 

Last  of  all  comes  quartz  mining,  or  tearing 
the  gold  by  main  force  out  of  its  beds  in  the  rock 
beneath  and  separating  it  by  means  of  stamps 
and  pestles. 

In  the  Yukon  region  the  process  has  not  yet 
passed  the  first  stage,  and  so  rich  are  the  finds 
there  and  so  difficult  the  importation  of  machin- 
ery and  supplies  that  it  may  be  years  before  the 
last  stages  will  become  available,  although  the 
never-satiated  thirst  for  gold,  combined  with 
modern  enterprise  and  ingenuity,  is  likely  to 
make  even  the  frozen  rocks  of  Alaska  amenable 
to  modern  appliances. 


96  KLbNDIKE. 

The  history  of  placer  mining  is  full  of  ro- 
mance. It  is  as  old  as  the  world  itself,  if  any 
reliance  can  be  placed  upon  the  traditions  that 
have  come  down  to  us  from  prehistoric  times. 
Gold  dust  and  nuggets  came  in  exchange  to  the 
Greeks  from  the  barbarians  of  the  north  centuries 
before  the  birth  of  Christ,  and  it  has  been  sur- 
mised that  the  precious  metal  was  taken  out  of 
the  mines  in  Siberia  and  in  the  Ural  Mountains, 
which  still  yield  so  generously.  The  first  placer 
mining  of  which  there  is  any  record  was  carried 
on  by  digging  the  sand  or  gravel,  mixing  it 
thoroughly  with  water,  and  then  pouring  it  over 
floating  platforms  covered  with  skins,  in  which 
the  gold  settled,  while  the  lighter  sand  flowed  off 
with  the  water.  To  this  practice  we  doubtless 
owe  the  mythological  story  of  the  journey  of 
Jason  with  his  Argonauts  in  search  of  the  Golden 
Fleece.  The  Golden  Fleece,  it  has  been  sur- 
mised, was  simply  the  skin  of  the  sheep  which 
was  used  to  catch  these  golden  products  of  the 
placer  miners.  And  it  is  significant  that  the  voy- 
age of  the  Argonauts  was  up  the  Black  Sea  or 
the  Euxine  into  the  very  region  of  the  Ural 
Mountain  gold  fields  which  have  already  been 
mentioned. 


PLACER  MINING  AND  HYDRAULICS.  97 

In  ancient  times  all  gold  was  obtained  by 
washing,  and  it  has  been  only  within  recent 
years  that  the  more  difficult  process  of  digging 
and  smelting  gold-bearing  quartz  has  been  re- 
sorted to.  The  wealth  of  the  Indies  consisted 
in  golden  sand,  which  their  rivers  washed  down 
from  the  gold-bearing  mountains.  So  it  was 
with  Russia,  Africa,  Australia  and  California. 
All  the  earlier  mining,  of  which  the  records  are 
so  many  and  so  fascinating,  was  done  by  placers 
in  the  old  primitive  manner.  This  was  true  espe- 
cially of  California.  Mr.  Preston,  the  Director 
of  the  United  States  Mint,  estimates  that  75  per 
cent  .of  the  gold  production  of  the  United  States 
between  1849  ^^^  1865  was  the  result  of  placer 
mining.  This  would  make  a  total  of  nearly  $700,- 
000,000  for  the  United  States  alone,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  the  placers  who  are  still  at  work  in  ever- 
diminishing  numbers  as  the  ore  becomes  more 
difficult  to  find.  Ore  is  still  being  washed  out  in 
almost  all  the  gold  districts.  California,  Russia 
and  Alaska  are  examples  in  point.  There  is 
even  a  little  placer  mining  in  Colorado,  which 
has  been  distinctively  the  home  of  quartz  mining 
from  the  beginning.  Mr.  Preston  estimates  that 
between  fifteen  and  twenty  per  cent,  of  the  Cali- 
7 


98  KLONDIKE. 

fornian  product  is  still  the  result  of  placer  mining, 
and  gives  other  percentages  as  follows: 

Oregon,  Washington,  Montana  and  Idaho,  12 
per  cent;  Utah,  8  per  cent.;  New  Mexico,  6  per 
cent;  Colorado,  i  per  cent. 

The  South  African  mines  are  almost  entirely 
quartz  deposits. 

The  beginning  of  placer  mining  in  America 
may  be  said  to  date  from  the  discovery  by  James 
W.  Marshall  of  pieces  of  gold  v^'hile  digging  a 
race  for  a  saw  mill  at  Coloma,  California,  Janu- 
ary 19,  1848.  The  announcement  of  his  discov- 
ery was  the  signal  for  an  influx  or  argonauts, 
and  those  who  first  landed  in  California  had  for 
implements  only  the  pick,  shovel,  rocker  and 
wheelban'ow.  This  is  about  the  outfit  of  a  miner 
in  the  Klondike  region  to-day.  It  was  only  a 
few  months,  however,  before  the  necessities  of 
the  case  compelled  the  introduction  of  what  is 
known  as  the  "Long  Tom."  This  is  a  rough 
trough  ten  or  twelve  feet  in  length,  narrow  at 
the  top  and  wide  at  the  lower  end,  set  on  an  in- 
cline, with  an  iron  plate  on  the  bottom  perforated 
so  that  the  gold  will  drop  through  as  it  is  wash- 
ed along.  The  "Long  Tom"  is  really  a  develop- 
ment of  the  rocker  or  cradle.     The  rocker   is 


PLACER  MINING  AND  HYDRAULICS.  99 

what  its  name  implies.  It  has  a  hopper  at  one 
end,  with  a  perforated  bottom,  and  this  stands 
over  an  incHned  canvas  stretcher.  The  gravel  is 
thrown  into  the  hopper,  water  is  poured  over  it 
and  the  cradle  is  rocked.  In  this  way  the  fine 
sand  and  the  gold  fall  through  the  holes  on  to  the 
canvas;  the  gold  sticks  fast  and  the  sand  rolls 
away.  The  most  primitive  of  all  placer  mining  is 
the  use  of  the  pan,  which  consists  simply  in  filling 
an  ordinary  pan  with  pay  dirt,  stirring  it  about 
very  slowly  and  carefully,  pouring  water  over  the 
gravel  at  the  same  time,  so  as  to  wash  away  the 
lighter  dirt  and  let  the  heavier  gold  sink  to  the 
bottom.  The  process  is  exceedingly  slow,  but 
in  a  region  like  the  Klondike  it  is  so  full  of  strik- 
ing possibilities  as  to  be  fascinating.  One  of 
those  who  have  just  returned  from  the  Yukon 
describes  how  he  found  no  less  than  a  thousand 
dollars  in  gold  dust  at  the  bottom  of  one  of  these 
pans  after  washing  away  the  dirt. 

Placer  mining,  which  depends  so  greatly  upon 
the  effect  of  v/ater,  would  seem  to  be  carried  on 
under  difficulties  in  the  Yukon  River  Basin, 
where  water  is  frozen  solid  during  nearly  ten 
months  of  the  year,  but  the  invention  and  indus- 
try of  the  Americans  now  on  the  field  may  be 


100  KLONDIKE. 

depended  upon  to  bring  even  these  hard  condi- 
tions under  their  control,  and  it  may  be  even 
that  the  miners  there  will  be  using  hydraulic 
methods  before  very  long. 

Hydraulic  mining  is  essentially  the  result  of 
American  inventive  genius.  It  is  the  perfect  de- 
velopment of  the  early  form  of  placer  mining  as 
illustrated  in  the  cradle  and  the  rocker,  for  it 
may  be  said  that  the  rocker,  which  is  the  rudest 
and  simplest  of  all  machines  employed  in  the 
separation  of  gold  from  gravel,  embodies  all  the 
essential  features  of  the  elaborate  m.achinery  used 
in  hydraulic  mining.  For  instance,  the  cradle  is 
an  oblong  box,  about  four  feet  in  length,  mount- 
ed on  a  pair  of  transverse  rockers  and  furnished 
with  a  set  of  graded  sieves  laid  in  tiers,  "riffles/^ 
amalgamated  plates  and  blankets,  for  the  sepa- 
ration and  arrest  of  the  gold  in  its  descent  from 
the  hopper  into  which  the  gold-bearing  gravel 
is  placed,  to  the  outlet  at  the  lower  end.  These 
devices  are  all  present  in  hydraulic  mining,  but 
they  are  so  enlarged  as  to  be  hardly  recogniza- 
ble. Hydraulic  mining  may  be  said  to  have  had 
its  origin  in  the  invention  of  the  flume  by  a  Con- 
necticut Yankee  named  Mattison  in  California 
three  years  after  the    discovery  of    gold.     The 


PLACER  MINING  AND  HYDRAULICS.  101 

flume  was  a  very  simple  thing,  consisting  of  a 
trough  to  bring  water  down  the  hillside  from  a 
ditch  over  where  the  mine  was  opened.  The 
first  flume  gave  the  water  a  head  of  about  forty 
feet,  discharging  it  into  a  barrel,  from  the  bot- 
tom of  which  depended  a  hose  about  six  inches 
in  diameter,  made  of  common  cowhide  and  end- 
ing in  a  tin  tube  about  four  feet  long,  which  ta- 
pered to  a  point  about  an  inch  in  diameter.  With 
the  head  of  water  thus  obtained,  a  stream  turned 
dirt,  washed  of?  the  lighter  earth  and  gravel, 
while  the  coarser  gravel  was  washed  more  care- 
fully and  thrown  out  with  a  sluice  fork,  the  name 
of  the  stick  used  for  that  purpose.  This  flume 
was  called  a  sluice.  Later  came  the  "ground 
sluice,"  which  consisted  in  making  the  bed  rock 
on  which  the  pay  dirt  rested  perform  the  duty  of 
sluices,  while  a  stream  of  v/ater,  used  for  wash- 
ing away  the  dirt,  was  constantly  trained  against 
the  bank.  This  water  had  about  the  same  effect 
as  water  in  any  stream  rubbing  constantly  and 
ceaselessly  against  its  own  banks  where  they  of- 
fer resistance  to  the  current. 

It  can  be  easily  seen  how  modern  hydraulic 
mining  grew  out  of  these  comparatively  simple 
contrivances.    For  the  cowhide  hose,  canvas  and 


102  KLONDIKE. 

then  iron  were  substituted,  and  improvements 
have  been  constantly  going  on,  until  now  it  is 
estimated  that  $100,000,000  is  invested  in  ditches, 
dams  and  tunnels  in  California  alone.  Water 
has  been  carried  from  almost  incredible  distances 
around  apparently  insurmountable  obstacles  so 
as  to  be  brought  into  play  for  the  washing  of 
gold  out  of  the  gravel  of  arid  diggings.  In  some 
instances  from  250  to  300  miles  of  ditches  and 
canals  have  been  built  at  a  cost  of  millions  of 
dollars  before  water  could  be  brought  to  play 
upon  the  gold-bearing  dirt.  Indeed  it  is  an  ax- 
iom among  miners  that  the  richness  of  the  gravel 
is  not  so  important  as  the  abundance  of  water, 
for  with  water  in  sufficient  quantities  gravel  con- 
taining even  insignificant  percentages  of  gold 
can  be  made  to  pay,  and  through  the  application 
of  American  inventiveness  it  has  been  found  pos- 
sible to  wash  out  the  deep  gravel  deposits  on  the 
liigh  banks  of  the  canons  of  streams  where  gold 
has  been  found.  The  beginning  of  this  complete 
method  of  hydraulic  mining  is  usually  given  as 
1856.  It  was  not  until  more  than  ten  years  after 
this  that  hydraulic  mining  was  revolutionized  by 
the  introduction  of  the  "monitor"  in  place  of  the 
discharge  pipe  of  earlier  days.    After  iron  began 


PLACER  MINING  AND  HYDRAULICS.         lOa 

to  be  employed  for  the  flumes  the  pipes  were 
gradually  enlarged  and  strengthened,  until  thi^ 
measure  now  from  fifteen  to  thirty  inches  in  di- 
ameter, terminating  in  monitors,  which  discharge 
the  streams  of  water  against  the  rocks  with  such 
tremendous  force  as  to  toss  about  like  pebbles 
rocks  which  are  tons  in  weight.  The  hydraulic 
monitor  in  action  resembles  very  much  a  piece  of 
military  or  naval  ordnance.  It  is  united  to  the 
supply  pipe  at  the  breech  with  a  water-tight 
socket  joint,  which  enables  the  miner  to  direct 
the  nozzle  toward  any  point.  In  spite  of  the  tre- 
mendous force  which  the  hydraulic  monitor  rep- 
resents it  can  be  managed  almost  by  a  child 
through  a  simple  and  effective  arrangement  call- 
ed the  "deflector."  The  deflector  consists  of  a 
sleeve  of  sheet  iron  working  on  an  elbow  joint 
over  the  nozzle.  To  this  sleeve  is  riveted  an  iron 
handle  four  or  five  feet  long,  by  means  of  which 
the  deflector  can  be  moved  so  that  the  lip  shall 
impinge  on  a  column  of  water  emerging  from 
the  nozzle  of  the  monitor.  An  almost  impercep- 
tible angle  is  thus  formed  in  a  column  of  water 
which  slowly  moves  the  monitor  in  the  opposite 
direction,  relieves  the  friction  and  straightens 
the  line  of  discharge.     With  all  this  tremendous 


104  KLONDIKE. 

force  at  work  it  is  remarkable  that  modern  hy- 
draulic mining  should  have  been  carried  to  such 
a  point  of  perfection  that  the  amount  of  gold  lost 
in  washing  is  hardly  worth  taking  account  of, 
although  in  the  old  methods  of  placer  mining  it 
was  estimated  that  from  one-third  to  one-half  of 
the  fine  gold  was  carried  away  in  the  debris.  To 
illustrate  the  tremendous  force  of  the  water 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  gold  deposits  through 
the  hydraulic  engines  a  correspondence,  which 
was  begun  some  years  ago  by  Mr.  Justice  Field, 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  is  of  great  interest.  Jus- 
tice Field's  letter  follows: 

Washington,  D.  C,  January  2.^^,  1891. 
Hon.  James  G.  Fair: 

Dear  Sir: — Last  evening  I  dined  at  General 
Schofield's  and  met  the  President  (Harrison). 
There  were  a  number  of  distinguished  people 
present  besides  the  President,  among  whom  were 
the  Chief  Justice,  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  (Mr.  Reed),  Senators  Sherman, 
Stanford  and  McMillan,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
Windom  and  Mr.  McKinley  and  Mr.  Wheeler  of 
the  House.  During  the  evening  the  conversa- 
tion turned  upon  California  and  her  wonderful 
products  and  mining  operations.    I  took  occasion 


PLACER  MINING  AND  HYDRAULICS.         105 

to  speak  of  hydraulic  mining  and  the  wonderful 
manner  in  which  the  hills  were  torn  down  by  hy- 
draulic machinery.  I  stated  that  I  had  under- 
stood you  to  say  that  such  was  the  force  of  the 
v/ater  thrown  through  a  hose  when  it  came  from 
one  hundred  to  two  hundred  feet  in  height  that 
boulders  weighing  half  a  ton  could  be  moved  by 
streams  playing  upon  them  and  that  the  force 
was  sometimes  so  great  that  it  would  be  impossi- 
ble to  cut  the  stream.  At  this  statement  much 
surprise  was  manifested,  and  I  thought  that  a 
smile  of  incredulity  passed  over  the  features  of 
the  guests.  Seeing  this,  I  said  that  I  would  prove 
the  facts  stated  in  a  communication  to  them. 

Now  I  write  to  you  for  the  information  de- 
sired. Please  send  me  some  carefully  prepared 
statistics  as  to  hydraulic  mining,  particularly  as 
to  the  power  exerted  of  a  column  of  water  thrown 
by  such  machinery,  and  as  to  how  large  boulders 
can  be  moved  by  the  force  of  the  stream  and  on 
the  point  whether  it  is  true  that  the  force  of  the 
stream  is  sometimes  so  great  that  it  cannot  be 
cut.  I  would  be  much  obliged  if  you  could  give 
me  full  particulars  in  regard  to  these  matters  in 
a  communication  that  I  can  use  if  necessary.  I 
propose  to  send  a  letter  to  each  one  of  the  guests, 


106  KLONDIKE. 

stating  the  facts,  and  thus  remove  the  increduhty 
which  they  evinced  when  the  statement  was  made 
by  me.  I  want  to  show  that  it  was  only  the  re- 
sult of  want  of  experience  in  hydraulic  mining, 
their  situation  being  somewhat  like  that  of  the 
King  of  Siam,  who  was  offended  when  an  Eng- 
lish visitor  told  him  that  in  his  country  water  be- 
came so  hard  that  he  could  walk  on  it. 

Please  let  me  hear  from  it    at     your    earliest 
convenience  and  believe  me  to  be 
Very  sincerely  yours, 

STEPHEN  J.  FIELD. 

In  his  reply  to  this  petition  ex-Senator  Fair  in- 
closed the  following  statements.  The  first  is  from 
Louis  Glass: 

"At  the  Spring  Valley  Hydraulic  Gold  Mine  in 
Cherokee,  Butte  county,  California,  our  largest 
stream  was  through  an  8-inch  diameter  nozzle 
under  311  verticle  feet  verticle  pressure,  delivered 
by  about  a  half  a  mile  of  two  and  a  half  feet  diam- 
eter iron  pipe;  and  I  have  seen  one  of  these 
streams  at,  say,  twenty  feet  from  nozzle,  move  a 
boulder  weighing  about  two  tons,  in  a  sluggish 
way,  and  throw  a  rock  of  five  hundred  pounds  as 
a  man  would  a  twenty-pound  weight.  No  man 
that  ever  lived  could  strike  a  bar  through  one  of 


PLACER  MINING  AND  HYDRAULICS.         107 

these  streams  within  twenty  feet  of  discharge, 
and  a  human  being  being  struck  by  such  a  stream 
would  be  instantly  killed,  pounded  into  a  shape- 
less mass, 

"To  verify  this  here  is  an  estimate  of  power  de- 
veloped under  similar  circumstances: 

"Say  8-inch  diameter  nozzle  300  feet  head,  de- 
livered through  iron  pipe  large  enough  to  elimi- 
nate friction ;  300  feet  head  by  433  pounds  by  50 
(square  of  8-inch  diameter)  equals  182,000 
pounds  aggregate  pressure,  or  91  tons;  but  by 
want  of  cohesion  in  the  column  of  water  after 
leaving  the  nozzle  this  great  force  is  rapidly  dis- 
sipated and  at  about  240  feet  the  momentum  is 
lost." 

The  second  statement  is  by  Aug.  J.    Bowie: 

"The  water  which  in  large  hydraulic  mines  is 
used  under  a  pressure  varying  from  200  to  500 
feet,  is  discharged  through  machines  styled 
'giants'  or  'monitors,'  with  nozzles  from  4  to  9 
inches  in  diameter.  Leading  up  to  these  nozzles 
the  supply  pipe  tapers  and  is  lifted  to  keep  the 
stream  from  twisting;  hence  the  water  as  it  issues 
is  practically  solid. 

"A  6-inch  nozzle  under  a  200  feet  pressure  will 
discharge  14  cubic  feet  of  water  a  second,  equal 


108  KLONDIKE. 

to  326  horse-power.  The  same  size  nozzle  under 
450  feet  pressure  will  deliver  21  cubic  feet  of  wa- 
ter per  second,  which  would  be  equal  to  a  blow  of 
508,735  foot  pounds  per  second,  equivalent  to 
1070  horse-power.  It  is  absolutely  impossible  to 
cut  such  a  stream  with  an  ax  or  to  make  any 
impression'  on  it  with  any  other  implement. 

"The  velocity  of  the  water  as  it  issues  from  the 
nozzles  would  in  the  cases  mentioned  vary  from 
70  to  105  feet  per  second.  The  greater  the  dis- 
tance from  the  discharge  nozzle  the  less  effective 
wcrtild  be  the  blow;  but  were  a  man  to  be  struck 
by  the  stream  as  it  comes  from  the  pipe  his  body 
would  have  to  resist  a  continuous  force  of  from 
261,000  to  953,000  foot  pounds  per  second,  with 
the  result  that  it  would  be  cut  into  fragments. 
There  never  has  been  such  an  accident,  but  at 
distances  of  from  150  to  200  feet  men  have  been 
killed  by  very  much  smaller  streams." 

It  only  remains  to  explain  that  this  tremendous 
stream  tearing  away  the  banks  of  gravel  forces 
tons  of  gold  bearing  dirt  tlirough  the  water-tight 
open  drains  known  as  sluice  boxes,  which  are 
made  of  heavy  boards  covered  on  the  bottom  with 
"riffles"  or  blocks  of  stone  or  wood,  with  space 
between  them  for  the  gold  to  settle  in. 


PLACER  MINING  AND  HYDRAULICS.         109 

As  the  water  rushes  through,  the  heavy  gold 
settles  in  these  little  spaces  over  which  quick- 
silver has  been  sprinkled,  and  uniting  with  the 
quicksilver  forms  an  amalgam.  At  length  the 
water  is  turned  off  with  the  exception  of  a  gentle 
stream,  the  riffle  blocks  are  taken  up,  the  amal- 
gam is  scooped  out  in  buckets,  and  the  residue  is 
washed  down  to  the  next  riffle  and  so  on  through 
the  line  of  sluice  boxes.  When  the  water  is  turn- 
ed off  the  workmen  take  silver  spoons  to  the  nail 
holes  or  cracks  and  gather  up  any  gold  or  amal- 
gam that  may  'have  been  caught  therein.  Then 
come  the  various  processes  of  breaking  up  the 
amalgam,  rubbing  it  and  washing  it,  straining  it 
through  canvas  or  chamois  skin,  cleaning  it  by  a 
hot  bath  in  water  and  sulphuric  acid  and  packing 
it  tiglitly  in  the  retort,  by  means  of  which  the 
quicksilver  is  all  driven  off  and  the  pure  gold 
made  ready  for  the  assay  office. 

It  may  be  imagined  that  the  construction  of 
reservoirs  to  supply  water  for  these  great  hy- 
draulic monitors  is  something  of  an  enterprise. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  involves  vast  labor  and 
expense.  Suitable  valleys  are  selected  near  the 
summit  of  a  high  range  of  mountains,  huge  dams 
of  solid  masonary  are  built  across  the  gorges  at 


110  KLONDIKE. 

the  mouths  of  the  valleys,  and  the  melting  snows 
on  the  surrounding-  watersheds  supply  such  a 
reservoir  with  water,  thus  storing  it  until  the  nat- 
ural streams  have  dried  up  or  run  so  low  that 
they  can  no  longer  be  of  any  service.  The  SieiTas 
with  their  numerous  valleys  almost  within  the 
line  of  perpetual  snow  are  especially  adapted  to 
this  kind  of  engineering. 

The  obstacles  to  be  surmounted  before  process- 
es like  this  can  be  made  to  apply  in  a  country  like 
the  Yukon  region  where  the  thermometer  goes 
to  65  degrees  below  zero  in  the  winter  and  where 
the  ice  is  broken  up  for  only  two  months  in  the 
year  may  be  imagined.  But  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
where  gold  is  to  be  found  American  genius  will 
devise  some  means  of  bringing  it  out  within  the 
reach  of  civilization. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


ALASKA. 

It  is  no  unexpected  revelation  that  the  soil  of 
Alaska  is  found  to  be  impregnated  with  gold. 
Seward  suspected  something  of  the  kind  when  he 
negotiated  the  purchase  of  the  territory  from  the 


ALASKA.  Ill 

Russian  Government  away  back  in  1867.  He  was 
la-ughed  at  then  for  what  was  termed  Seward's 
folly,  and  it  became  quite  the  fashion  for  the 
newspapers  of  the  day  to  twit  the  Secretary  of 
State  about  spending  millions  of  dollars  on  a 
stretch  of  ice  and  rocks.  But  Seward  never  let 
himself  be  troubled  by  the  clamor,  and  he  is  on 
record  in  more  than  one  utterance  as  declaring 
that  the  Alaskan  purchase  would  eventually  be 
found  to  be  the  richest  portion  of  the  territory 
of  the  United  States.  His  phop'hecy  seems  about 
to  be  fulfilled.  Indeed,  it  has  been  in  the  process 
of  fulfillment  for  many  years,  and  the  money 
which  the  United  States  invested  in  the  purchase 
has  already  been  repaid  several  times  over.  The 
value  of  the  furs  alone  in  the  Alaskan  territories 
exceeds  by  millions  of  dollars  the  price  paid  by 
Seward  for  everything.  It  has  been  known,  too, 
for  many  years  that  the  soil  was  rich  in  minerals 
of  many  kinds.  The  coal  fields  are  as  extensive 
as  any  in  the  world.  Copper  is  known  to  lie 
there  in  vast  quantities,  and  gold  has  for  years 
been  waiting  only  for  the  undaunted  band  of 
pioneers  who  were  willing  to  brave  the  hardships 
of  cold,  starvation  and  travel  in  their  search  for 
the  philosopher's  stone.     Gold  has  been  taken 


1]2  KLONDIKE. 

from  Alaska  before  this.  The  Treadwell  Mines, 
on  Douglas  Island,  have  been  worked  since 
1885,  and  it  is  now  regarded  as  the  most  perfect- 
ly equipped  quartz  mining  establishment  in  the 
world.  In  1895  the  Director  of  the  Mint  report- 
ed that  gold  to  the  amount  of  $i,833>733  had 
been  taken  from  the  Alaskan  mine  and  deposited 
at  the  United  States  mints.  But  quartz  mining  is 
not  placer  mining.  It  is  not  the  sort  of  thing 
that  attracts  the  argonauts,  for  it  requires  a  great 
amount  of  capital  and  is  devoid  of  the  element  of 
romance  which  renders  the  gold  beds  of  the  Klon- 
dike as  fascinating  to  the  fortune-seeker  as  the 
Californian  gold  beds  were  to  the  fortune-seek- 
er of  1849.  A  quartz  mine  is  a  huge  manufactur- 
ing establishment  with  all  that  is  contained  in 
that  term,  and  the  profits  go  to  the  head  of  the 
concern.  Placer  mining  is  the  field  for  individual 
effort,  where  every  man  has  at  least  a  chance  of 
making  a  fabulous  fortune  on  his  own  account. 
In  placer  mining  one  may  pick  out  the  gold  with 
his  fingers.  There  is  something  about  that  pro- 
cess which  appeals  to  the  imagination.  And  so  it 
happens  that  while  millions  of  dollars  have  al- 
ready been  taken  out  of  the  Alaskan  territory,  it 
remained  for  the  splendid  discoveries  at  Klondike 


ALASKA.  113 

to  open  the  eyes  of  the  world  to  the  surpassing 
richness  of  the  Alaskan  field. 

\'er}'  few  people  in  the  United  States,  even 
among  the  more  intelligent  and  educated  class- 
es, fully  appreciate  the  immensity  of  the  territory 
which  was  added  to  the  public  domain  by  the 
purchase  of  Alaska.  The  total  area  of  the  United 
States  proper,  including  the  fully  organized  ter- 
ritories, is  2,970,000  square  miles.  Alaska  proper 
in  the  mainland  contains  an  area  of  580,107 
square  miles;  the  islands  of  Alexander  Archipel- 
ago, ofif  the  southeastern  coast,  contain  31,205 
square  miles,  and  the  Aleutian  Islands,  6391 
square  miles.  In  other  words  Alaska  with  its  ad- 
jacent islands  embraces  more  square  miles  of  ter- 
ritory than  twenty-one  States  of  the  Union  east 
of  the  Mississippi  River;  that  is  all  the  New  Eng- 
land States,  Delaware,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Mary- 
land, Michigan,  Mississippi,  New  Jersey,  New 
York,  North  Carolina,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  South 
Carolina,  Tennessee,  Virginia  and  West  Virginia 
— State  that  are  represented  in  Congress  by  forty- 
-two  Senators  and  two  hundred  Representatives. 
The  numerous  islands,  creeks  and  inlets  of  Alas- 
ka lengthen  out  its  coast  line  to  7860  miles,  an 
extent  greater  than  that  of  the  eastern  coast  line 


114  KLONDIKE. 

of  the  United  States.  Beginning  at  the  southeast 
the  chief  creeks  and  bays  are  Cook's  Inlet,  Bris- 
tol Bay,  Norton  Sound  and  Kotzebue  Sound; 
while,  following  the  same  order,  fhe  principal 
headlands,  in  addition  to  the  extremity  of  the  pe- 
ninsula, are  Cape  Newenham  and  Cape  Roman- 
zoff  in  the  Pacific,  Cape  Prince  of  Wales  in  Be- 
ring Strait,  and  Cape  Lisbourne,  Icy  Cape  and 
Point  Barrow  in  the  Arctic  Ocean.  Point  Bar- 
row is  in  71.23  north  latitude,  and  is  the  ex- 
treme northern  point  of  the  country.  The  terri- 
tory has  an  extent  of  over  one  thousand  miles 
from  north  to  south,  and  the  Island  of  Attou,  the 
last  of  the  Aleutian  group,  is  two  thousand  miles 
west  of  Sitka.  The  longitude  of  Attou  is  as  many 
degrees  west  of  San  Francisco  as  Eastport, 
Maine,  is  derees  east.  It  is  through  the  posses- 
sion of  Alaska  that  the  American  citizen  is  able 
to  boast  that  the  sun  never  goes  down  upon  the 
dominions  of  the  United  States.  The  Governor 
of  Alaska,  sitting  in  his  office  in  Sitka,  is  very  lit- 
tle farther,  measuring  in  a  straight  line,  from 
Eastport,  Maine,  than  he  is  from  the  extremiC 
western  limit  of  his  own  jurisdiction,  which  ex- 
tends beyond  the  most  easterly  point  of  Asia,  a 
distance  of  nearly  one  thousand  miles,  to  the  one 


ALASKA.  115 

hundred  and  ninety-third  deree  of  west  longi- 
tude, embracing  an  area  very  nearly  equal  to  one- 
fifth  of  all  the  States  and  organized  Territories  of 
the  Union  With  its  navigable  rivers,  inter- 
minable forests,  and  lofty  mountain  ranges,  it 
would  be  strange,  indeed,  were  it  not  possessed 
of  natural  resources,  the  development  of  which 
is  the  only  condition  precedent  to  the  growth  of 
a  rich  and  prosperous  State.  That  these  re- 
sources are  even  now  comparatively  unknown  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at  in  view  of  the  long  ne- 
glect of  the  territory  by  the  national  government. 
The  extent  to  which  this  neglect  has  been  carried 
is  shown  by  the  fact  that  only  since  the  recent 
startling  reports  of  the  development  of  the  gold 
region  in  the  interior  has  the  United  States  seen 
fit  to  make  any  provision  for  the  administration 
of  the  law  in  that  part  of  the  territory.  It  is  hard- 
ly a  fortnig'ht  since  the  office  of  United  States 
Commissioner  for  Western  Alaska  was  created 
by  the  President,  and  Charles  H.  Isham  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  place.  Mr.  Isham  will  be  stationed 
at  Circle  City,  but  whether  he  will  find  any  city 
there  upon  hjs  arrival  is  something  of  a  question. 
He  will  be  authorized  to  appoint  deputy  mar- 
shals to  aid  him  in  enforcing  the  laws     of    the 


116  KLONDIKE. 

United  States.  Governor  Ryan,  the  first  Assist- 
ant Secretary  of  the  Interior,  admits  that  tlhe  force 
employed  in  the  civil  government  in  Alaska  is  en- 
tirely inadequate  if  there  is  any  appreciable  in- 
crease at  points  remote  from  the  towns  where 
government  officials  are  now  located. 

The  gold  fields  are  away  up  in  the  Yukon,  at 
the  edge  of  the  Arctic  circle,  hundreds  of  miles 
distant  from  Sitka  and  other  coast  towns,  where 
are  located  the  United  States  Marshals,  United 
States  Commissioners,  Deputy  Marshals  and 
Deputy  Commissioners.  The  active  force  in  chc 
territory  that  lias  to  carry  on  a  civil  government 
is  small.  The  police  force,  as  it  may  be  termed, 
consists  of  a  United  Statts  Marshal  and  eight 
Deputy  Marshals,  eight  United  States  Commis- 
sioners and  eight  Deputy  Commissioners.  Of 
course,  in  case  of  trouble,  the  Marshal  could  ex- 
ercise the  power  of  a  'high  sheriff  and  summon 
the  posse  comitatus.  The  United  States  laws  are 
rigidly  enforced  in  southeastern  Alaska  along 
the  coast  and  the  citizens  of  the  territory  are  ful- 
ly protected  in  the  settlement,  but  the  miners  who 
push  several  hundred  miles  beyond  civilization 
will  have  to  be  a  law  unto  themselves  until  other 
arrangements  are  made  for  increasing  the  civil 


ALASKA.  117 

force  of  the  territory.  The  general  land  office  has 
recommended  the  establishment  of  two  land  dis- 
tricts in  western  Alaska  and  one  of  the  officers 
will  be  located  at  .Circle  City.  There  has  been  the 
greatest  confusion  among  the  prospectors  owing 
to  the  absence  of  facilities  for  proving  up  claims, 
and  it  is  feared  that  there  will  be  a  great  number 
of  contentions  over  mineral  land  locations  in  vari- 
ous sections  where  the  gold  discoveries  have  been 
made.  Some  of  the  prospectors  who  have  arrived 
in  San  Francisco  and  Seattle  have  endeavored  to 
secure  government  recognition  for  their  claims, 
only  to  find  that  the  processes  they  had  gone 
through  with  were  valueless  and  that  they  would 
be  compelled  to  make  the  whole  wearisome  jour- 
ney over  again  with  witnesses  who  could  testify 
to  their  occupation  of  the  land. 

The  population  of  Alaska  is  largely  a  matter 
of  estimate.  According  to  the  latest  reports  it 
amounted  to  about  35,000,  Of  these  about  10,000 
might  be  described  as  civilized  and  this  number 
includes  not  only  the  whites  but  the  Creoles  and 
the  Aleutians.  Most  of  these  are  settled  in  the 
southeastern  coast  country,  where  the  seat  of 
government  has  been.  The  people  called  Creoles 
are  descendants  three  or  four   generations   re- 


118  KLONDIKE. 

mote,  of  a  mixed  parentage  (Russian  fathers  and 
native  mothers),  but  it  will  puzzle  even  the  most 
learned  ethnologist  to  find  anything  in  their  feat- 
ures or  complexions  by  which  to  distinguish  them 
from  the  race  to  which  their  fathers  belonged. 
They  are,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  white  peo- 
ple, fully  as  intelligent  and  well  informed  as 
would  almost  any  other  class  of  people  have  been, 
if  subjected  to  the  same  wrongs  and  disadvan- 
tages. They,  as  well  as  the  Aleuts,  are  civilized 
people,  in  the  sense  that  the  first  were  never  in  a 
condition  of  barbarism,  while  the  last,  if  indeed 
not  fully  enlightened,  have  most  certainly  been  re- 
claimed from  their  original  savage  state.  Under 
the  rule  of  the  Russian-American  Company  the 
Creoles  were  given  the  same  opportunities  for 
acquiring  an  education  as  were  afforded  to  pure 
blood  Russian  children,  up  to  a  certain  age,  when 
they  were  compelled  to  enter  the  employ  of  the 
company  for  a  long  term  of  years.  The  bright- 
est among  the  Creoles  and  Aleutian  boys  were 
carefully  trained  in  navigation,  ship  building  and 
the  mechanical  arts,  while  the  girls  were  taught 
housekeeping,  and  thus  fitted  to  become  wives  of 
the  company's  employes,  and  there  are  said  to  be 
now  in  the  Russian  army  and  navy  officers  of 


ALASKA.  119 

very  considerable  rank,  and  a  good  many  who 
hold  high  positions  in  the  civil  service  of  the 
Empire,  who  are  the  progeny  of  these  mixed  mar- 
riages. The  Aleuts  are  a  keen,  bright  and  natur- 
ally intelligent  people,  industrious  and  provident, 
the  larger  portion  being  educated  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent  in  the  Russian  language,  and  that  they 
are  well  advanced  in  civilization  is  evidenced  by 
the  fact  that  they  live  in  comfortable  houses,  are 
given  to  finery  in  their  dress,  and  are,  with  scarce- 
ly an  exception,  devout  members  of  one  of  the 
Christian  churches. 

The  native  Alaskans  are  a  very  superior  race 
intellectually,  as  compared  with  the  people  gen- 
erally known  as  North  American  Indians,  and 
are  as  a  rule  industrious  and  provident  and  whol- 
ly self-sustaining.  That  they  yield  readily  to  civ- 
ilizing influences  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that 
wherever  the  Christian  missionaries  have  gain- 
ed a  foothold,  they  will  be  found  living  in  neat 
comfortable  homes  of  their  own  construction,  and 
many  of  them  earnestly  intent  upon  bettering 
their  condition,  intellectually  and  morally.  They 
are  shrewd  and  natural-born  traders,  some  are 
passably  good  carpenters,  and  others  still  are 
skillful  workers  in  woods  and  metals.    As  fast  as 


120  KLONDIKE. 

they  can  obtain  employment  from  the  white  men 
at  reasonable  wages  (and  the  most  ignorant 
among  them  know  the  value  of  their  labor)  they 
abandon  the  chase  and  the  fishing  grounds,  and 
serve  their  employers  faithfully  so  long  as  they 
are  well  treated.  At  least  a  hundred  are  employed 
at  the  great  mine  and  mill  on  Douglas  Island,  and 
as  laborers  and  miners  are  far  superior  to  the 
Chinese. 

Of  course,  with  the  influx  of  miners  to  the  new 
placer  diggings  the  population  of  whites  will  be 
greatly  increased,  and  it  is  certainly  not  a  rash 
estimate  that  the  total  population  of  the  territory 
will  be  more  than  doubled  in  the  next  twelve 
months.  So  far  as  is  known  there  are  about 
three  thousand  white  men  now  scattered  over  the 
gold  fields,  and  most  of  these  have  been  concen- 
trated about  the  Klondike  region.  Five  thou- 
sand more  are  on  the  way,  and  with  the  opening 
up  of  spring  they  will  begin  to  pour  in  upon  the 
unexplored  country  by  the  thousands.  With 
the  rapid  increase  of  population  and  the  direction 
of  attention  to  the  new  Eldorado  there  it  will 
only  be  a  short  time  before  transportation  facil- 
ities are  afiforded  between  Juneau  and  the  gold 
fields  and  the  way  paved  for  establishing  the  be- 
ginnings of  a  great  Commonwealth. 


ALASKA.  121 

It  appears  now  that  Juneau,  situated  as  it  is  at 
the  head  of  tidewater  and  at  the  gateway  to  the 
gold  country,  will  be  the  most  important  city  of 
Alaska.  Indeed,  it  is  already  the  metropolis  of 
the  Territory,  although  Sitka  still  remains  the 
capital,  and,  owing  to  its  age  and  its  situation, 
will  continue  to  be  an  important  point.  The 
population  of  Sitka,  in  the  latest  reports,  was 
about  I200.  Juneau  is  destined  to  be  the  outfit- 
ting point  for  all  miners  on  their  way  to  the  Yu- 
kon gold  fields.  It  has  a  population  of  nearly 
fifteen  hundred,  which  is  bound  to  rapidly  in- 
crease. It  is  more  nearly  than  other  Alaskan 
city  on  a  par  with  the  cities  farther  south.  It  is 
the  headquarters  of  several  steamboat  Imes,  has 
a  city  hall  and  court  house,  substantial  walls, 
water  works,  electric  lights,  hotels  and  a  large 
number  of  fine  buildings.  It  is  a  picturesque 
city,  situated  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  which 
are  snow-capped  throughout  the  year  and  down 
which  avalanches  are  constantly  tearing.  One 
or  more  avalanche  rushes  down  the  mountain 
side  every  day,  and  these  incidents  lend  to  life 
there  an  interest  peculiarly  its  own. 

It  is  a  singular  circumstance  that  glaciers  ap- 


122  KLONDIKE. 

proach  nearer  to  the  ocean  here  at  Juneau  than 
at  any  other  place  in  the  world.  Indeed  it  is  the 
only  place  so  far  as  known  where  glaciers  come 
near  to  the  ocean  at  all,  but  here  the  approach 
is  so  close  and  the  motion  oceanward  is  so  steady 
that  the  waters  around  the  city  are  filled  with 
floating  icebergs,  somewhat  to  the  peril  of  sea- 
faring men. 

Juneau  was  founded  in  the  winter  of  1880  and 
six  months  after  the  discovery  of  gold  (August 
15,  1880)  by  Joseph  Juneau  and  Richard  Harris. 
It  went  under  the  name  of  Harrisburg  at  first  and 
afterwards  was  called  Rockwell,  but  the  miners 
at  a  meeting  about  a  year  after  its  foundation  de- 
cided to  rechristen  it  in  honor  of  the  discoverer 
of  gold.  Within  a  year  it  has  become  a  flourish- 
ing mining  town,  and  now  it  is  the  commercial 
centre  of  Alaska.  It  supports  three  weekly  news- 
papers. 

The  exploration  of  the  northern  coast  was 
chiefly  the  work  of  the  British  navigators,  Cook, 
Beechy  and  Franklin,  and  of  the  officers  of  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company.  The  principal  river  of 
Alaska  is  the  Yukon,  which  rises  in  British 
America,  and,  receiving  the  Porcupine  River  at 
Fort  Yukon,  flows  west\vard  across  the  territory 


ALASKA.  123 

and  falls  into  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  the  south  of 
Norton  Sound.  At  a  distance  of  600  miles  from 
the  sea  this  magnificent  river  has  a  width  of  more 
than  a  mile.  Its  tributaries  would  in  Europe  be 
reckoned  large  rivers,  and  its  volume  is  so  great 
than  ten  miles  out  from  its  principal  mouth  the 
v^rater  is  fresh.  Among  the  other  rivers  of  Alas- 
ka are  the  Copper  River,  the  Suschitna,  the  Nus- 
chagak  and  the  Kuskokwim,  falling  into  the  Pa- 
cific, and  the  Colville,  flowing  northward  into  the 
Arctic  Ocean.  A  great  mountain  range  extends 
from  British  Columbia,  in  a  northwest  direction, 
along  the  coast  of  Alaska,  the  summit  being  cov- 
ired  with  snow  and  glaciers.  Mount  St.  Elias,  an 
active  volcano,  in  60.18  north  latitude  and  140.30 
west  longitude,  rises  to  the  height  of  14,970  feet 
above  the  sea.  The  mountain  chain  runs  along 
the  peninsula,  which  has  given  its  name  to  the 
country,  and  at  the  w^estern  extremity  there  are 
several  volcanic  cones  of  great  elevation,  while 
in  the  Island  of  Uminak,  separated  from  the 
mainland  by  only  a  narrow  strait,  there  are  enor- 
mous volcanoes,  one  rising  to  more  than  8000 
feet  in  height.  In  the  interior  and  to  the  north 
the  country  is  also  mountainous,  with  great  in- 
tervening plains. 


124  KLONDIKE. 

The  northwest  coast  of  this  part  of  America 
was  discovered  and  explored  by  a  Russian  expe- 
dition under  Behring  in  1741,  and  at  subsequent 
periods  settlements  were  made  by  the  Russians 
at  various  places,  chiefly  by  the  prosecution  of 
the  fur  trade.  In  1799  the  territory  was  granted 
to  a  Russo-American  fur  company  by  the  Em- 
peror Paul  VIII,  and  in  1839  ^^^^  charter  of  the 
company  was  renewed.  New  Archangel,  in  the 
Island  of  Sitka,  was  the  principal  settlement,  but 
the  company  had  about  forty  stations.  They  ex- 
ported annually  25,000  skins  of  the  seal,  sea- 
otter,  beaver,  etc.,  besides  about  20,oco  sea-horse 
teeth.  The  privilege  of  the  company  expired  in 
1863,  and  in  1867  the  whole  Russian  possessions 
in  America  were  ceded  to  the  United  States  for  a 
money  payment  of  $7,200,000.  The  treaty  was 
signed  March  30  and  ratified  on  June  20,  1867, 
and  on  October  9  following  the  possession  of  the 
country  was  formerly  made  over  to  a  military 
force  of  the  United  States  at  New  Archangel 
(now  Sitka).  Portions  of  Alaska  were  explored 
in  1859  by  the  employes  of  the  Russo-American 
Telegraph  Company  in  surveying  a  route  for  a 
line  of  telegraph  which  was  destined  to  cross  from 
America  to  Asia  near  Behring  Strait — a  project 


ALASKA.  125 

which  was  abandoned,  after  an  expenditure  of 
$3,000,000,  on  communication  with  Europe  being 
secured  by  the  Atlantic  cable. 

The  government  of  Alaska  lies  in  a  Governor, 
who  is  appointed  by  the  President.  It  has  not 
yet  a  full  territorial  form  of  government. 

The  climate  of  the  Alaskan  coast  regions  is 
much  milder,  even  in  the  higher  latitudes,  than 
it  is  in  the  interior,  or  in  corresponding  latitudes 
on  the  Atlantic  coast.  This  is  easily  explained 
and  understood  when  the  natural  forces  produc- 
live  of  this  milder  temperature  are  contemplated. 

The  most  important  among  them  is  a  thermal 
current  resembling  tht  Gulf  Stream  in  the  Atlan- 
tic. This  current,  known  as  the  Japanese  or 
Kuro  Siwo,  has  its  origin  under  the  ecjuator  near 
the  Molucca  and  Philippine  Islands,  passing 
northward  along  the  coast  of  Japan,  and  crosses 
the  Pacific  to  the  southward  of  the  Aleutian  Is- 
lands, after  throwing  a  branch  through  Bering 
Sea,  in  the  direction  of  Bering  Strait.  The  main 
current  strikes  the  coast  of  British  Columbia, 
where  it  divides  again,  one  branch  turning  north- 
ward toward  Sitka,  and  thence  westward  to  the 
Kadiak  and  Shumagim  Islands. 


126  KLONDIKE. 

The  comparatively  warm  waters  of  these  cur- 
rents affect  the  temperatures  of  the  superjacent 
atmosphere,  which,  absorbing  the  latent  heat, 
carries  it  to  the  coast  with  all  its  mollifying  ef- 
fect. Thus  the  oceanic  and  atmospheric  cur- 
rents combine  in  mitigating  the  coast  climate  of 
Alaska,  and  this  process  is  greatly  aided  by  the 
configuration  of  the  extreme  northwestern  shores 
of  the  Pacific,  backed  as  they  are  with  an  almost 
impenetrable  barrier  of  lofty  mountains,  which 
holds  back  from  the  interior  the  warm,  moist 
atmospheric  currents  coming  in  from  the  ocean, 
deflecting  at  the  same  time  the  ice-laden  northern 
gale  from  the  coast  to  the  interior. 

To  Hon.  A.  P.  Swineford,  who  was  Governor 
of  Alaska  in  1886,  belongs  the  distinction  of  hav- 
ing first  emphatically  called  the  attention  of  the 
United  States  Government  to  the  splendid  possi- 
bilities of  Alaskan  development.  In  the  very  first 
report  which  he  made  to  the  Secretary  of  the  In- 
terior in  October,  1885,  he  declared  that  the  n.it- 
ural  resources  of  Alaska,  as  yet  in  the  infancy  of 
their  development,  were  such  as  might  be  made, 
in  the  near  future,  a  most  important  addition  to 
the  aggregate  wealth  of  the  nation. 


ALASKA.  127 

"I  have  seen  enough  to  convince  me,"  he  said, 
"that  no  other  Territory  of  the  Union,  at  so  early 
a  period  in  its  civil  history,  presented  nearly  so 
many  or  as  great  possibilities  for  the  future. 
That  Alaska  was  not  supplied  with  local  civil 
government  a  dozen  years  ago  is  to  be  deplored; 
that  so-called  scientists  in  the  pay  of  the  General 
Government  have  heretofore  'damned  with  faint 
praise,'  if  they  did  not  openly  condemn  the  coun- 
try as  utterly  worthless,  save  for  its  valuable  fur 
trade — basing  their  statements  on  what  they 
were  able  to  see,  looking  at  its  rugged  coast 
from  their  favorite  standpoint  of  the  Prybilov  Is- 
lands— is  still  more  to  be  regretted,  for  the  rea- 
son that  the  tardy  and  at  last  only  partially  per- 
formed act  of  justice  on  the  one  hand  was  but 
the  result  of  either  the  ignorant  or  willful  mis- 
statements of  those  to  whom  Congress  looked 
for  information  upon  which  to  base  any  and  all 
legislation  affecting  the  rights,  privileges  and  in- 
terests of  Alaska  and  its  people. 

"Nowhere  in  my  home  travels,  from  Lake  Su- 
perior to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  from  Washington 
to  Sitka,  have  I  seen  a  more  luxuriant  vegetation 
than  in  Southeastern  Alaska.    I  find  the  hardier 


128  KLONDIKE. 

vegetables  all  growing  to  maturity  and  enormous 
size;  white  turnips  weighing  ten  pounds,  cab- 
bages twenty-seven  pounds,  and  as  fine  potatoes 
as  can  be  found  in  any  of  the  Eastern  markets  I 
found  growing  at  Wrangell,  Juneau  and  in  Sitka. 
Wild  timothy  and  red-top  grow  to  a  height  ol 
from  five  to  seven  feet,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Sit- 
ka all  the  hay  was  cured  during  the  past  summer 
that  will  be  required  during  the  winter,  and  I  am 
satisfied,  from  personal  observation,  that  hun- 
dreds of  tons  more  could  have  been  harvested. 
The  few  cattle  I  have  seen  are  sleek  and  in  the 
best  possible  condition,  and  I  unhesitatingly  give 
it  as  my  opinion  that  the  country  is  well  enough 
adapted  to  grazing  purposes  to  render  wholly 
unnecessary  the  importation  of  beef,  even  when 
the  population  of  the  Territory  shall  have  grown 
far  beyond  the  number  requisite  to  its  admission 
as  a  State." 

As  an  indication  of  the  difficulty  Alaska  has 
had  in  receiving  recognition  according  to  its  true 
worth  executive  document  No.  36  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  second  session.  Forty-first 
Congress,  may  well  be  quoted  here.  It  contains 
the  report  of  a  special  agent  of  the  Treasury  De- 


ALASKA.  129- 

partment  on  the  subject  of  Alaska.  From  it  the 
following  passages  are  taken: 

"The  price  paid  for  the  Territory,  $7,200,000, 
is  but  a  small  item  of  its  cost  to  the  United 
States.  Provided  the  public  debt  be  paid  within 
twenty-five  years,  annual  interest  on  the  purchase 
money  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent,  would  in  that 
period  amount  to  $23,701,792.14,  which,  added 
to  the  principal,  would  make  the  total  cost  of  the 
Territory  $30,901,792.14.  To  this  sum  there 
must  be  added  the  expense  of  the  military  and 
naval  establishments,  say  $500,000  per  annum,  or 
$12,500,000  in  twenty-five  years,  which  is  a  much 
smaller  estimate  than  can  be  predicted  on  the  ex- 
penditure of  the  last  two  years,  resulting  in  a 
grand  total  cost  on  the  above  basis  of  $43,401,- 
792.14. 

"In  return  for  this  expenditure  we  may  hope 
to  derive  from  the  seal  fisheries,  if  properly  con- 
ducted, from  $75,000  to  $100,000,  and  from  cus- 
toms $5000  to  $10,000  per  annum,  a  sum  insuffi- 
cient to  support  the  revenue  department,  includ- 
ing the  present  expensive  cutter  service  attached 
to  the  district;  nor  can  we  look  for  any  material 
increase  of  revenue  for  many  years,  except  in  the 
9 


130  KLONDIKE. 

event  of  extraordinary  circumstances,  such  as  the 
discovery  of  so  large  deposits  of  minerals  as 
would  produce  an  influx  of  population. 

"As  a  financial  measure  it  might  not  be  the 
worst  policy  to  abandon  the  Territory  for  the 
present,  until  some  possible  change  for  the  bet- 
ter shall  have  taken  place,  but  for  political  rea- 
sons this  course  may  not  be  advisable." 

Notwithstanding  the  above  calculations  and 
predictions  the  managoment  of  the  Seal  Islands 
alone  paid  into  the  United  States  Treasury  be- 
tween $6,000,000  and  $7,000,000  in  rental  and 
royalties  within  twenty  years,  independent  of  the 
''extraordinary  circumstances"  referred  to  by 
this  special  agent.  It  is  safe  to  assert  that,  since 
the  system  of  leasing  the  Prybilov  Island  was  in- 
augurated within  a  few  weeks  of  the  date  of  the 
report  quoted  here  and  up  to  the  expiration  of 
the  first  term  of  twenty  years,  the  revenue  cov- 
ered into  our  Treasury  from  Alaska  has  always 
exceeded  the  expenditures,  while  as  a  factor  in 
the  internal  commerce  of  the  United  States,  and 
especially  of  our  Pacific  coast.  Alaska  has  as- 
sumed a  position  of  considerable  importance. 

A  better  understanding  of  the  advantages  de- 


■«««l^' 


ALASKA.  131 

rived  by  the  country  at  larg^e  by  the  purchase  of 
Alaska  can  l)c  obtained  by  perusing  the  sub- 
joined statement  of  products  of  the  Territory 
since  it  came  into  our  possession.  The  state- 
ment embraces  only  the  principal  articles  of  ex- 
port, and  can  be  relied  upon  as  being  conserva- 
tive anil  within  actual  limits  of  Alaska's  prod- 
ucts: 

VALUE    OF    PRODUCTS    OF    ALASKA 
FROM  1868  TO  1890. 

Furs  $48,518,929 

Canned  salmon    9,008.497 

Salted  salmon 603,548 

Codfish    1,246,650 

Ivory    147.047 

Gold  and  silver 4.63 1 .840 

Total   $64,156,511 

Products  of  the  whaling  industry: 

Whale  oil    $2,853,351 

\Vhaleb<me    8.204,067 

Total    11,057,418 


Aggregate $75»2i3.9-'. 


182  KLONDIKE. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

QUARTZ  MINING  IN  SOUTHEASTERN 
ALASKA. 

This  handbook  would  not  approach  completion 
if  it  refrained  from  a  description  of  the  wonderful- 
ly productive  gold  mines  which  have  been  work- 
ed in  southeastern  Alaska  for  the  past  twelve 
years,  and  which  in  1895  contributed  nearly  $2,- 
000,000  to  the  gold  supply  of  the  world.  These 
quartz  mines  are  the  most  perfectly  developed  in 
the  world,  and  are  increasing  in  productiveness 
every  year.  The  gold  yield  of  Alaska  in  1894  was 
$1,288,334.  In  1895  it  increased  to  $2,328,419. 

For  1895  the  yield  of  the  quartz  mines  en 
Douglas  and  Unga  Islands  alone  equaled  the  en- 
tire product  of  the  territory  the  years  before, 
without  counting  the  other  mining  fields  which 
have  been  more  fully  developed. 

During"  the  year  1895,  300  stamps  were  drop- 
ping on  Douglas  Island  and  during  the  summer 
125  stamps  were  dropping  on  the  mainland. 

Other  outlying  districts  are  also  coming  into 
prominence,  mainly  on  Admiralty  Island,  upon 
which  a  new  ten-stamp  mill  is  now  ready  for  run- 


QUARTZ  MINING  IN  SOUTHEASTERN  ALASKA.  133 

ning,  being  operated  by  the  Alaska-Willoughby 
Gold  Mining  Company.  On  Unga  Island  some 
very  extensive  and  productive  quartz  operations 
are  being  carried  on. 

In  southeastern  Alaska,  so  far,  all  the  placer 
mining  has  been  done  in  gravel  deposits,  which 
were  made  auriferous  by  the  wash  from  quartz 
veins. 

The  distinction  of  the  first  discovery  of  gold  in 
that  extensive  and  important  mining  region  of 
which  the  town  of  Juneau  is  the  centre,  is  shared 
by  two  pioneer  prospectors,  Richard  Harris  and 
Joseph  Juneau.  In  the  summer  of  1880  these 
men  started  in  a  canoe  from  the  quaint  old  town 
of  Sitka  to  prospect  the  mainland  coast,  and 
about  August  15  discovered  gold  in  a  stream 
which  they  aptly  named  Gold  Creek.  Their  stock 
of  provisions  being  nearly  exhausted,  they  did 
not  ascend  the  stream  to  its  source  and  soon  re- 
turned to  Sitka,  taking  with  them  150  pounds  oi 
gold  quartz  and  13  grains  of  "dust."  Having  se- 
cured another  outfit,  they  hurried  back  to  Gold 
Creek,  and  soon  found  its  source  in  a  little  round 
valley  inclosed  by  steep,  glacier-capped  moun- 
tains. This  spot  they  named  Silver  Bow  basin,  af- 
ter a  place  of  that  name  in  Montana.      On  the 


134  KLONDIKE. 

mountain  slopes,  encircling  the  basin,  gravel  was 
found  worth  from  15  to  30  cents  a  pan,  and  quartz 
that  seemed  to  have  been  splashed  with  gold. 
October  4  Juneau  and  Harris,  with  the  aid  of 
three  natives,  located  their  choice  of  the  placer 
ground,  and  within  a  month  located  18  quartz 
claims,  organized  Harris  mining  district,  adopt- 
ed local  rules  for  the  new  district,  and  staked  off 
a  town  site  near  the  mouth  of  Gold  Creek,  which 
they  named  Harrisburg.  They  then  returned  to 
Sitka  with  960  pounds  of  gold  ore,  worth  $14,000. 
This  golden  cargo  crazed  the  quiet  town,  and  a 
number  of  adventurous  fellows,  procuring  boats, 
canoes,  or  steam  launches,  rushed  off  to  the  new 
diggings  with  Juneau  and  Harris.  The  season 
was  too  far  advanced  for  prospecting  in  the  basin, 
so  log  cabins  v;ere  built  on  the  site  staked  olY  by 
the  founders  of  the  camp.  During  the  winter  of 
1 880-1881  the  town  of  Harrisburg  flourished;  five 
general  merchandise  stores  were  established  and 
saloons  appeared  so  quickly  as  to  seem  sponta- 
neous; miners  and  frontiersmen  generally  flock- 
ed in  fromWrangell  and  British  Columbia,  add  all 
waited  impatiently  for  spring.  At  a  miners'  meet- 
ing in  February,  1881,  the  town  name  was 
-changed  to    Rockwell,  in  honor    of  Lieutenant 


QUARTZ  MINING  IN  SOUTHEASTERN  ALASKA.  135 

Rockwell,  United  States  Navy,  and  the  following 
November,  at  another  meeting,  the  place  was  rc- 
christened  Juneau,  in  honor  of  Joseph  Juneau. 
On  the  27th  of  January  John  Pryor,  Antonc 
Marx,  Frank  Berry,  James  Rosewald  and  Wil- 
liam Alehan  discovered  placer  and  quartz  on  the 
beach  of  Douglas  Island,  four  miles  from  the 
town.  They  began  working  the  placers  early  in 
March,  washing  out  2^  ounces  of  gold  in  the  first 
three  days'  work. 

The  first  shipment  of  gold  from  the  new  camp 
was  taken  from  this  claim  and  amounted  to  84 
ounces.  The  claim,  still  known  as  Ready  Bullion, 
yielded  about  $12,000  in  1881,  $3000  in  1882  and 
in  1884  was  sold  to  John  Treadwell.  These  are 
the  beginnings  of  the  famous  Treadwell  mines, 
from  which  enough  ore  has  been  taken  out  in  the 
last  ten  years  to  pay  the  purchase  of  Alaska  and 
more. 

An  expedition  of  great  value  in  the  exploration 
of  the  gold  resources  of  southern  Alaska  was  un- 
dertaken under  the  auspices  of  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey  in  1895,  under  the  direction  <.f 
Dr.  George  F.  Becker.  Dr.  Becker  was  assisted  by 
Mr.  C.  W.  Purington,  who  devoted  himself  espe- 
cially to  the  examination  of  the  gold  deposits. 


136  KLONDIKE. 

and  associated  with  him  was  Dr.  W,  H.  Dall,  the 
Alaskan  authority,  who  had  immediate  charge 
of  an  examination  of  the  coal  resources. 

The  instructions  to  the  party  were  to  examine 
the  gold  and  coal  deposits  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
shore  line  and  islands  along  the  coast  of  the  ter- 
ritory, and  not  to  attempt  to  penetrate  into  the 
interior. 

Dr.  Becker  and  Mr.  Purington  examined  the 
Treadwell  mine,  on  Douglas  Island,  and  found 
that  the  mine  was  in  slates  of  sedimentary  origin, 
probably  of  Triassic  age,  and  that  it  had  been 
penetrated  by  a  heavy  dike  of  diorite  or  tonalite 
and  by  two  other  intrusive  masses.  The  last  of 
these  is  a  rock  of  basaltic  character,  and  its  erup- 
tion seems  to  have  occurred  at  the  same  time  as 
the  mineralization.  Both  the  diorite  and  the  slate 
were  ruptured  along  a  zone  which  is  at  some 
points  several  hundred  feet  in  width,  and  the  in- 
terstitial spaces  have  been  filled  with  ore.  In  the 
diorite  the  masses  were  in  great  part  reduced  to 
fragments,  and  these  have  been  decomposed  and 
impregnated.  In  the  slate  the  fractures  mostly 
followed  the  cleavage,  and  the  deposit  there  as- 
sumes the  form  of  a  "stringer  lead."  The  claims 
to  the  southward  of  the  Treadwell  are  controlled 


QUARTZ  MINING  IN  SOUTHEASTERN  ALASKA.  137 

by  the  same  company,  and  are  profitable,  but  the 
next  claim  to  the  northward  is  said  to  be  too  poor 
to  pay.  The  ore  of  Treadwell  averages  only  $2.50 
to  $3  per  ton,  but,  owing-  to  the  enormous  scale 
of  the  workings,  there  is  a  large  prfit  in  working 
it. 

The  Silver  Bow  basin  lies  about  three  miles 
north  of  east  of  Juneay.  A  considerable  number 
of  small  veins  of  rather  rich  ore  occur  in  the 
southern  side  of  the  basin.  The  basin  was  for- 
merly occupied  by  a  large  glacier.  After  the  re- 
treat of  the  glacier  the  basin  was  occupied  by  a 
lake,  and  the  lake  beds  are  successfully  worked 
for  gold  by  the  hydraulic  process. 

Sheep  Creek  basin  is  separated  from  Silver 
Bow  basin  by  a  divide,  and  the  same  series  of 
quartz  veins  extend  into  it.  About  55  miles  to 
the  southeast  of  Juneau,  at  Sumdum,  there  is  a 
very  promising  vein  which  is  yielding  good  bul- 
lion, although  the  property  is  only  just  being  de- 
veloped. At  Seward  City,  near  Berners  Bay, 
about  50  m.iles  north  of  Juneau,  there  are  also 
veins  which  are  extremely  rich  at  some  points 
and  are  yielding  gold.  On  Admiralty  Island, 
about  30  miles  from  Juneau,  there  are  promising 
veins,  on  which  it  is  expected  that  mining  will 


138  KLONDIKE. 

be  commenced  during  the  summer  of  1896.  Near 
Sitka,  especially  along  Silver  Bay  and  in  the 
country  to  the  southeast  of  it,  there  are  numer- 
ous veins,  some  of  which  have  yielded  a  little 
gold.  The  conditions  do  not  warrant  an  opinion 
as  to  their  future. 

At  Yakutat  Bay,  just  to  the  eastward  of  Mount 
St.  Elias,  there  has  been  some  beach  mining,  as 
there  has  also  been  along  the  west  shore  of  Ka- 
diak  Island.  The  ease  of  working  and  the  unlim- 
ited supply  of  sand  make  beach  mining  on  the 
western  coast  of  North  America  ver\-  attractive, 
but  the  capriciousness  of  the  distribution  of  pay 
streaks  and  the  difiiculty  of  saving  the  gold  com- 
monly rob  such  undertakings  of  success.  The 
amount  of  gold  which  occurs  in  this  manner  in 
the  sand  is  enormous,  but  as  yet  there  are  few  if 
any  reliable  records  of  large  profits  having  been 
made  from  beach  mines,  either  in  Alaska  or  to  the 
southward. 

On  Kadiak  Island,  in  Uyak  Bay.  there  are  sev- 
eral promising-looking  gold-quartz  veins,  2  feet 
or  so  in  thickness,  upon  which  prospecting  is  now 
going  on.  Stream  gravels  are  also  being  worked 
on  Turn-again  Arm,  at  the  head  of  Cook  Inlet. 
The  only  successful  working  was  on  Bear  Creek, 


QUARTZ  MINING  IN  SOUTHEASTERN  ALASKA.  139 

but  the  capriciousness  of  the  distribution  of  pay 
Becker  could  obtain  the  average  results  were  not 
more  than  $5  per  day  per  man  .  A  later  report, 
received  after  Dr.  Becker's  visit,  is  that  richer 
gravel  has  been  discovered  near  the  head  of  Turn- 
again  Arm. 

The  island  of  Unga  is  in  the  Shumagin  Archi- 
pelago, about  a  thousand  miles  south  of  west 
from  Sitka.  Near  Delarofif  Bay,  on  this  island, 
is  the  Apollo  Consolidated  mine,  which  is  now 
yielding  at  the  rates  of  over  $300,000  a  year.  The 
ore  occurs  in  interstitial  spaces  in  a  crushed  zone 
of  andesite.  It  averages  between  $8  and  $9  per 
ton,  much  of  the  gold  being  free,  though  heavy 
bunches  of  sulphurets  are  of  frequent  occurrence 
in  it. 

Although  auriferous  quartz  has  been  found  on 
the  island  of  Unalaska,  nothing  like  a  mine  has 
yet  been  discovered. 

Speaking  of  the  gold  mines  of  Southeastern 
Alaska  as  early  as  1886  Governor  Swineford 
said: 

"The  extensive  reduction  works  on  Douglas 
Island,  opposite  Juneau,  are,  perhaps,  the  most 
complete  of  any  to  be  found  on  the  Pacific  slope. 


140  KLONDIKE. 

They  are  supplied  with  twenty-four  batteries  of 
five  stamps  each,  with  all  the  necessary  machin- 
ery and  appliances  for  the  extraction  of  the  free 
gold,  and  chlorination  works  for  the  treatment 
of  the  sulphurets.  During  July  and  August  the 
mill,  running  to  not  much  more  than  half  its  full 
capacity,  turned  out  $115,000  in  gold  bullion, 
while  the  accumulated  sulphurets  (concentrates) 
awaiting  treatment  were  shown  by  frequent  as- 
says to  be  worth  not  less  than  $100,000  more. 

"Since  the  middle  of  September  the  mill  has 
been  running  to  its  full  capacity,  and  a  personal 
examination  of  the  mine  from  which  it  is  sup- 
plied with  ore  leads  me  to  confidently  expect 
very  much  better  results  from  this  time  forward. 
The  mine  itself  is  located  in  what  appears  to  be 
simply  a  great  mountain  of  gold-bearing  quartz. 
Into  this  immense  repository  of  the  precious 
metal  a  tunnel  has  ben  driven  to  a  length  of  near- 
ly, if  not  quite,  500  feet,  as  nearly  as  I  could 
judge,  at  right  angles  with  the  trend  of  the  ledge, 
and  on  a  level  at  least  250  feet  below  the  outcrop 
on  which  the  miners  were  at  w^ork  breaking  and 
milling  the  rock  down  through  a  winze  to  the 
tram-cars  in  the  tunnel.     A  careful  examination 


QUARTZ  MINING  IN  SOUTHEASTERN  ALASKA.  141 

of  the  tunnel  reveals  well  defined  foot  and  hang- 
ing walls,  very  nearly  400  feet  apart,  between 
which  nothing  but  the  same  kind  of  rock  as  that 
being  milled  at  the  time  of  my  visit  can  be  seen 
on  either  side.  The  rock  is  what  is  called  'low 
grade  milling,"  carrying  free  gold  and  sulphu- 
rets,  and  yields  an  average,  I  am  told,  of  about 
$8  per  ton.  No  selection  of  the  rock  is  neces- 
sary, everything  from  between  the  walls  going 
to  the  stamps.  It  is  truly  a  phenomenal  deposit 
and  the  mine  one  that  promises  to  figure  more 
largely  in  the  mining  history  of  the  world  than 
any  other  of  which  we  have  any  record. 

"In  the  rear  of  Juneau  two  or  three  miles,  on 
the  mainland,  is  Silver  Bow  Basin,  where  some 
rich  placer  mines  are  being  worked,  but  thus  far 
I  have  not  been  afforded  an  opportunity  to  visit 
or  examine  them.  The  value  of  the  product  of 
these  mines,  however,  has  been  estimated  by  well- 
posted  persons  at  not  less  than  $150,000  in  1884, 
and  the  opinion  prevails  that  the  shipment  of 
"dust"  will  be  much  larger  the  present  year.  I 
noticed  while  in  Juneau  that  most  of  the  traders 
were  buying  gold  dust,  and  was  told  that  many 
of  the  miners  in  the  basin  were  doing  well,  and 
some  of  them  amassing  comfortable  fortunes. 


142  KLONDIKE. 

"In  the  absence  of  other  discoveries  it  would 
yet  be  hardly  probable  that  the  gold-bearing- 
ledges  and  basins  of  the  Territory  should  be  con- 
fined to  this  one  particular  locality.  Fortunately 
there  is  abundant  evidence  going  to  show  that 
the  developments  at  Juneau  are  but  the  precur- 
sors of  others  yet  in  abeyance,  and  which  await 
only  the  application  of  similar  efifort  in  the  way 
of  the  expenditure  of  labor  and  capital  to  make 
them  profitably  productive.  In  the  near  vicinity 
of  Sitka  there  are  promising  ledges,  one  of  which 
has  been  wrought  for  years  in  a  desultory  way 
by  a  single  prospector,  who,  doing  only  the  as- 
sessment work  required  by  the  mining  law,  has 
yet  been  able  to  support  himself  and  family  from 
the  proceeds  extracted  from  his  incipient  mine 
by  the  most  primitive  appliances — principally  an 
ordinary  hand  pestle,  mortar  and  pan.  While 
there  can  be  little  doubt  of  the  existence  of  gold 
along  the  coast  range  of  mountains,  and  on  many 
of  the  islands  of  the  Alexander  Archipelago,  the 
geological  formation  and  general  characteristics 
of  which  appear  to  be  identical  wath  those  of  the 
mainland,  the  work  of  development  will  neces- 
sarily proceed  slowly  as  compared  to  the  prog- 


QUARTZ  MINING  IN  SOUTHEASTERN  ALASKA.   143 

ress  made  in  the  other  mining  districts  of  the 
United  States,  owing  to  the  difficulties  which  be- 
set the  path  of  the  prospector,  unless,  indeed,  con- 
venient access  to  tidewater  may  wholly  or  in 
part  be  found  to  counterbalance  the  disadvan- 
tages of  high  and  precipitous  mountains,  cov- 
ered with  a  dense  growth  of  timber,  underbrush 
and  fallen  trees,  with  two  or  three  feet  of  inter- 
twining, closely  woven  vines  and  moss  covering 
the  ground  itself,  and  which  will  obstruct  and 
render  more  than  usually  difficult  the  work  of 
exploration,  though  not  necessarily  an  obstruc- 
tion in  the  way  of  subsequent  mining  operations. 
The  difficulties  mentioned  will,  however,  be  par- 
tially obviated  by  the  first  discovery  in  any  par- 
ticular locality,  which  will  serve  as  a  starting 
point  from  which  to  prosecute  explorations  w'th 
a  better  knowledge  of  the  formation,  and,  con- 
sequently, with  much  less  labor  and  expense.  In 
addition  to  the  compensating  advantage  of  con- 
tiguity to  navigable  waters  there  is  unlimited 
water  power  for  the  operation  of  mining  and 
milling  machinery  and  an  abundance  of  timber 
for  all  purposes." 


144  KLONDIKE. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY. 

Although  the  eyes  of  the  world  are  only  just  be- 
ginning to  be  opened  to  the  surpassing  interest 
of  the  immense  area  of  country  watered  by  the 
Yukon  River,  there  are  men  living  to  whom  the 
marvelous  features  of  that  great  stretch  of  country 
are  no  new  thing.  The  highest  authority  on  all 
questions  pertaining  to  the  Yukon  is  Dr.  W.  H. 
Dall,  of  the  Smithonian  Institution,  in  Washing- 
ton, who  more  than  a  generation  ago  went  up  in- 
to that  country  v^th  the  Western  Union  expedi- 
tion sent  out  to  survey  for  the  proposed  Russian- 
American  telegraph  line  and  who  has  made  sever- 
al journeys  to  the  same  region  since.  Dr.  Dall 
embodied  the  observations  of  his  early  visits  in 
a  book  published  in  1870,  entitled,  "Alaska  and 
its  Resources,"  which  is  easily  the  most  compre- 
hensive work  issued  on  the  general  subject  of  our 
Alaskan  possessions.  No  subsequent  explorers 
have  succeeded  in  fully  replacing  it,  although  the 
latest  census  reports  are  very  complete,  consid- 
ering the  difficulties  of  exploration. 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY.        145 

What  the  Amazon  is  to  South  America,  the 
Mississippi  to  the  central  portion  of  the  United 
States,  the  Yukon  is  to  Alaska.  It  is  a  great  in- 
land highway,  which  will  make  it  possible  for  the 
explorer  to  penetrate  the  mysterious  fastness  of 
that  still  unknown  region.  The  Yukon  has  its 
source  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  of  British  Colum- 
bia, and  the  Coast  Range  Mountains  of  southeast- 
ern Alaska,  about  125  miles  from  the  city  of  Ju- 
neau, which  is  the  present  metropolis  of  Alaska. 
But  it  is  only  known  as  the  Yukon  River  at  the 
point  where  the  Pelly  River,  the  branch  that 
heads  in  British  Columbia,  meets  with  the 
Lewis  River,  which  heads  in  southeastern 
Alaska.  This  point  of  confluence  is  at 
Fort  Selkirk,  in  the  Northwest  Territory, 
about  125  miles  southeast  of  the  Klondike. 
The  Yukon  proper  is  2044  miles  in  length  From 
Fort  Selkirk  it  flows  northwest  400  miles  just 
touching  the  Arctic  circle;  thence  southward  for  a 
distance  of  1600  miles,  where  it  empties  into  Be- 
ring Sea.  It  drains  more  than  600,000  miles  square 
of  territory,  and  discharges  one-third  more  water 
into  Bering  Sea  than  does  the  Mississippi  into 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  At  its  mouth  it  is  sixty  miles 
wide.  About  1500  miles  inland  it  widens  out 
10 


146  KLONDIKE. 

from  one  to  ten  miles.  A  thousand  islands  send 
the  channel  in  as  many  different  directions.  Only 
natives  who  are  thoronghly  familiar  with  the  river 
are  trusted  with  the  piloting  of  boats  up  the 
'  stream  during  the  season  of  low  water. 

Even  at  the  season  of  high  water  it  is  still  so 
shallow  as  not  to  be  navigable  anywhere  by  sea- 
going vessels,  but  only  by  flat-bottomed  boats 
with  a  carrying  capacity  of  four  to  five  hundred 
tons. 

The  Yukon  River  is  absolutely  closed  to  trav- 
el save  during  the  summer  months.  In  the  win- 
ter all  approaches  are  locked  with  impenetrable 
ice  and  the  summer  lasts  only  from  ten  to  twelve 
weeks,  from  about  the  middle  of  June  to  the  early 
part  of  September.  Then  an  unending  panorama 
of  extraordinary  picturesqueness  is  unfolded  to 
the  voyager.  The  banks  are  fringed  with  flowers 
carpeted  with  the  all  pervading  moss  or  tundra. 
Birds,  countless  in  numbers  and  of  infinite  va- 
riety of  plumage,  sing  out  a  welcome  from  every 
tree  top.  Pitch  your  tent  where  you  will  be  m 
midsummer,  a  bed  of  roses,  a  clump  of  poppies 
and  a  bunch  of  blue  bells  will  adorn  your  camp- 
ing. But  high  above  this  paradise  of  almost  trop- 
ical exuberance,  giant  glaciers  sleep  in  the  sum- 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY.        147 

mit  of  the  mountain  wall,  which  rises  up  from  a 
bed  of  roses,  has  disappeared  before  icy  breath  of 
the  Winter  King,  which  sends  the  thermometer 
down  to  eighty  degrees  below  the  freezing  point. 

The  Lewis  River  is  the  best  known  of  the  trib- 
utaries to  the  Yukon,  having  been  used  for  the 
past  twelve  years  as  the  highway  from  South- 
eastern Alaska  to  the  gold  diggings  on  the  Yu- 
kon. Its  length  from  Lake  Lindeman,  one  of 
its  chief  sources,  to  the  junction  with  the  Pelly 
is  about  375  miles,  and  it  lies  entirely  in  British 
territory,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  miles  of  the 
lake  at  its  head. 

The  Pelly  River  takes  its  rise  about  Dease 
Lake,  near  the  headwaters  of  the  Stkine  River, 
with  a  length  of  some  500  miles  before  joining 
the  Lewis  to  form  the  Yukon  River.  The  union 
of  these  two  streams  forms  a  river  var}'ing  from 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  to  a  mile  in  width.  For 
many  miles  on  the  northern  bank  is  a  solid  wall 
of  lava,  compelling  a  swift  current  to  follow  a 
westerly  course  in  search  of  an  outlet  to  the 
north.  The  southern  bank  is  comparatively  low, 
formed  of  sandy,  alluvial  soil.  A  few  miles  above 
the  White  River  the  stream  takes  a  northerly 
course  through  a  rugged,  mountainous  country, 


148  KLONDIKE. 

receiving  the  addition  of  the  waters  of  the  White 
River  on  the  south,  so  called  from  the  milk}'  color 
of  its  water,  and  a  few  miles  farther  on  the  waters 
of  the  Stewart  on  the  north.  The  current  is  ex- 
ceedingly swift  here,  especially  at  a  high  stage 
of  water,  being  at  least  six  or  seven  miles  an  hour. 
From  Stewart  River  to  Fort  Reliance  both  banks 
are  closed  in  by  high  mountains,  formed  chiefly 
of  basalt  rock  and  slaty  shale.  Many  of  the  bluffs 
are  cut  and  worn  into  most  picturesque  shapes 
by  glacial  action.  At  Fort  Reliance,  an  aban- 
doned trading  post,  the  general  course  of  the 
stream  changes  to  northwest,  continuing  thus 
for  a  distance  of  about  500  miles,  or  as  far  as  the 
confluence  with  the  Porcupine  River,  which 
flows  from  the  north. 

Some  forty  miles  from  Fort  Reliance  the 
mouth  of  Forty  Mile  Creek  is  passed,  where  is 
located  the  miners'  trading  post  and  where  for 
some  time  were  found  the  chief  gold  diggmgs. 
Some  thirty-eight  miles  from  there  the  river 
crosses  the  eastern  boundary  of  Alaska.  For  a 
hundred  miles  after  crossing  the  boundary  the 
river  runs  in  one  broad  stream,  confined  on  ei- 
ther side  by  high  banks  and  a  mountainous 
country,  known  as  the  "Upper  Rampart."     It 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY         149 

then  widens  out,  and  for  a  distance  of  150  miles 
is  a  network  of  channels  and  small  islands.  At 
Old  Fort  Yukon,  an  abandoned  Hudson  Bay- 
post,  it  attains  its  high  northern  latitude,  being 
just  within  the  Arctic  circle.  From  main  bank 
to  bank  the  distance  has  been  found  to  be  ex- 
actly seven  miles  at  a  point  just  above  the  site 
of  Fort  Yukon.  This  place  is  probably  the  only 
serious  obstacle  to  navigation  that  is  met  with 
from  the  mouth  of  the  river  to  Fort  Selkirk,  a 
distance  of  over  one  thousand  six  hundred  miles, 
the  channel  here  shifting  from  year  to  year,  and 
at  certain  stages  of  water  it  is  difficult  to  find. 
From  Fort  Yukon  to  the  mouth  the  river  has 
been  frequently  traveled  and  well  described. 

According  to  Dr.  Dall  the  character  of  the 
country  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Yukon  River  va- 
ries from  low,  rolling  and  somewhat  rocky  hills, 
usually  easy  of  ascent,  to  broad  and  rather  marshy 
plains,  extending  for  miles  on  either  side  of  the 
river,  especially  near  the  mouth.  There  are  no 
roads,  except  an  occasional  trail,  hardly  notice- 
able except  by  a  voyageur.  The  Yukon  and  its 
tributaries  form  the  great  highways  of  the  coun- 
try. 

The  soil  is  usually  frozen  at  a  depth  of  three 


150  KLONDIKE. 

or  four  feet  in  ordinary  situations.  In  colder  ones 
it  remains  icy  to  within  eighteen  inches  of  the 
surface.  This  layer  of  frozen  soil  is  six  or  eight 
feet  thick.  Below  that  depth  the  soil  is  usually 
destitute  of  ice. 

This  phenomenon  appears  to  be  directly  trace- 
able to  want  of  drainage,  combined  with  non- 
conductive  covering  of  moss,  which  prevents  the 
scorching  sun  of  the  boreal  midsummer  from 
thawing  and  warming  the  soil. 

A  singular  phenomenon  on  the  shores  of  Es- 
choltz  Bay,  Kotzebue  Sound,  was  first  observed 
and  described  in  the  voyage  of  the  Rurik  by 
Kotzebue  and  Chamisso,  and  afterwards  in  the 
appendix  to  the  voyage  of  the  Herald  by  Buck- 
land  and  Forbes. 

It  consists  of  blufifs  or  banks  (thirty  to  sixty 
feet  high)  of  apparently  solid  ice,  fronting  the 
water,  which  washes  on  a  small  beach  formed  by 
detritus,  at  the  foot  of  the  benk.  These  contin- 
uous banks  of  ice,  strange  to  say,  are  covered 
wdth  a  layer  of  soil  and  vegetable  matter,  v\'hcre, 
to  use  the  words  of  the  renowned  botanist,  Dr. 
Seemann,  "herbs  and  shrubs  are  flourishing  wiih 
a  luxuriance  only  equaled  in  more  favored 
climes." 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY.        151 

The  climate  of  the  Yukon  Territory  in  the  in- 
terior (as  is  the  case  throughout  Alaska)  differs 
from  that  of  the  sea  coast,  even  in  localities  com- 
paratively adjacent.  That  of  the  coast  is  tem- 
pered by  the  vast  body  of  water  contained  in 
Bering-  Sea,  and  many  southern  currents  bring- 
ing warmer  water  from  the  Pacific,  making  the 
winter  climate  of  the  coast  much  milder  than  that 
of  the  country,  even  thirty  miles  into  the  interior; 
this,  too,  without  any  high  range  of  mountaiiis 
acting  as  a  bar  to  the  progress  of  warm  winds. 
The  sum.mers,  on  the  other  hand,  from  the  quan- 
tity of  rain  and  cloudy  weather,  are  cooler  and 
less  pleasant  than  those  of  the  interior.  The 
months  of  May  and  June,  however,  and  part  of 
July,  are  delightful — sunny,  warm  and  clear.  To 
quote  Seemann  again,  on  the  northern  coast, 
"the  grov^th  of  plants  is  rapid  in  the  extreme. 
The  snow  has  hardly  disappeared  before  a  mass 
of  herbage  has  sprung  up,  and  the  spots  which 
a  few  days  before  presented  nothing  but  a  white 
sheet  are  teeming  with  active  vegetation,  pro- 
ducing leaves,  flowers  and  fruits  in  rapid  succes- 
sion." Even  during  the  long  Arctic  day  the 
plants  have  their  period  of  sleep,  short,  though 
plainly  marked,  as  in  the  tropics,  and  Indicated 


152  KLONDIKE. 

by  the  same  drooping  of  the  leaves  and  other 
signs,  which  we  observe  in  milder  climates.  The 
following  table  shows  the  mean  temperature  of 
the  seasons  at  St.  Michael's,  on  the  coast  of  Nor- 
ton Sound,  in  latitude  63  degrees  28  minutes;  at 
the  Mission,  on  the  Yukon  River,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  from  its  mouth,  in  latitude  61  de- 
grees 47  minutes;  at  Nulato,  four  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  farther  up  the  river,  in  latitude  64  de- 
grees 40  minutes  (approximate),  and  at  Fori  Yu- 
kon, twelve  hundred  miles  from  the  mouth  of 
the  river  and  about  latitude  66  degrees  34  min- 
utes : 
Means  for      St.Mich's.  Mission.  Nulato.  Ft.Y'n. 

Spring    29.3         19.62         29.3         14.22 

Summer    53.0.        59.32         60.0         59.67 

Autumn   26.3         36.05         36.0         17.37 

Winter   8.6  0.95         14.0         23.80 

Year 29.3         26.48         27.8         16.92 

The  mean  annual  temperature  of  the  Yukon 
Territory,  as  a  whole,  may  be  roughly  estimated 
at  about  25  degrees.  Open  water  may  be  found 
on  all  the  rivers  in  tlie  coldest  weather  and  nnny 
springs  are  not  frozen  up  throughout  the  year. 

At  Fort  Yukon  Dr.  Dall  says  he  has  seen  the 
thermometer  at  noon,  not  in  the  direct  rays  of  the 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY.        153 

sun,  Standing  at  112  degrees,  and  he  was  in- 
formed by  the  commander  of  the  post  that  sev- 
eral spirit  thermometers  graduated  up  to  120 
degrees  had  burst  under  the  scorching  sun  of 
the  Arctic  midsummer,  which  can  only  be  thor 
oughly  appreciated  by  one  who  has  endured  it. 
In  midsummer  on  the  Upper  Yukon  the  only 
relief  from  the  intense  heat,  under  which  the 
vegetation  attains  an  almost  tropical  luxuriance, 
is  the  brief  space  during  w^hich  the  sun  hovers 
over  the  northern  horizon. 

The  rain  fall  is  much  greater  in  summer  on 
the  coast  than  in  the  interior.  The  months  of 
May,  June  and  part  of  July  bring  sunny,  delight- 
ful weather;  but  the  remainder  of  the  season,  four 
days  in  a  v»'eek  at  least,  will  be  rainy  at  St.  Mich- 
ael's. October  brings  a  change.  The  winds,  us- 
ually from  the  southwest  from  July  to  the  latter 
part  of  September,  in  October  are  mostly  from 
the  north,  and,  though  cold,  bring  fine  weather. 
They  are  interrupted  occasionally  by  gales,  the 
most  violent  of  the  season,  from  the  southwest; 
piling  the  driftwood  upon  the  shores,  where  it 
lies  until  the  succeeding  fall,  unless  carried  off  by 
the  natives  for  fuel. 

The  valley  of  the  Lower  Yukon  is  somewhat 


154  KLONDIKE. 

foggy  in  the  latter  part  of  the  summer;  but  as 
the  river  is  ascended  the  climate  improves  and  the 
short  summer  at  Fort  Yukon  is  dry,  hot  and 
pleasant,  only  varied  by  an  occasional  shower. 

The  first  requisite  for  habitation  or  even  ex- 
ploration in  any  country  is  timber.  With  it  al- 
most all  parts  of  the  Yukon  territory  are  well  sup- 
plied. The  treeless  coasts  even  of  the  Arctic 
Ocean  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  an  exception,  as 
they  are  bountifully  supplied  with  driftwood  from 
the  immense  supplies  brought  down  by  the  Yu- 
kon, Kuskoquim  and  other  rivers,  and  distributed 
by  the  waves  and  ocean  currents. 

The  largest  and  most  valuable  tree  found  in  this 
district  is  the  white  spruce,  which  is  found  over 
the  whole  country  a  short  distance  inland,  but 
largest  and  most  vigorous  in  the  vicinity  of  run- 
ning water.  It  attains  not  unfrequently  the 
height  of  fifty  to  one  hundred  feet,  with  a  diame- 
ter of  over  three  feet  near  the  butt;  but  the  most 
common  size  is  thirty  or  forty  feet  and  twelve  to 
eighteen  mches  at  the  butt.  It  is  quite  durable. 
Many  houses,  twenty  years  old,  built  of  this  tim- 
ber, contained  a  majority  of  sound  logs,  but  when 
used  green,  without  proper  seasoning,  it  will  not 
last  over  fifteen  vears.     These  trees  decrease  in 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY.        155 

size,  and  grow  more  sparingly  near  Fort  Yukon, 
but  are  still  large  enough  for  most  purposes. 

The  tree  of  next  importance  in  the  economy 
of  the  inhabitants  is  the  birch.    This  tree  rarely 
grows  over  eighteen  inches  in  diameter  and  forty  ' 
feet  high.  i 

Several  species  of  poplar  abound,  the  former 
along  the  water  side  and  the  latter  on  drier  up- 
lands. The  first  mentioned  species  grows  to  a 
very  large  size,  frequently  two  or  three  feet  in 
diameter  and  forty  to  sixty  feet  high.  The  tim- 
ber, however,  is  of  little  value,  but  the  extreme 
softness  of  the  wood,  is  often  taken  advantage  of 
by  the  natives  with  their  rude  iron  or  stone  axes, 
to  make  small  boards  or  other  articles  for  use  in 
their  lodges.  They  also  rub  up  with  charcoal  the 
down  from  the  seed-vessels  for  tinder. 

Willows  and  alders  are  the  most  abundant  of 
trees  and  all  sizes  of  the  former  may  be  found. 

The  treeless  coasts  of  the  territory,  as  well  as 
the  lowlands  of  the  Yukon,  are  covered  in  spring 
with  a  most  luxuriant  growth  of  grass  and  flow- 
ers. Among  the  more  valuable  of  these  grasses 
is  the  Kentucky  blue  grass,  which  grows  as  far 
north  as  Kotzbue  Sound,  and  on  the  coast  of  Nor- 
ton Sound  with  a  truly  surprising  luxuriance.  It 


156  KLONDIKE. 

reaches  in  very  favorable  situations  four  or  even 
five  feet  in  height  and  averages  at  least  three  feet. 

Grain  has  never  been  sown  to  any  extent  in 
the  Yukon  territory.  Barley  was  once  or  twice 
tried  at  Fort  Yukon  in  small  patches  and  succeed- 
ed in  maturing  the  grain,  though  the  straw  was 
very  short.  Attempts  were  also  made  at  40-Mile 
Post  in  1890. 

Turnips  and  radishes  ahvays  flourished  ex- 
tremely well  at  St.  Michael's  and  the  same  is  said 
of  Nulato  and  Fort  Yukon.  Potatoes  succeeded 
at  the  latter  place,  though  the  tubers  were  small 
They  were  regularly  planted  for  several  years,  un- 
til the  seed  was  lost  by  freezing  during  the  winter. 
At  St.  Michael's  they  did  not  do  well. 

Salad  was  successful,  but  cabbage  would  not 
head.  The  white  round  turnips,  grown  at  St. 
Michael's,  from  European  seed,  were  very  large, 
some  weighing  five  or  six  pounds. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  upper  Yukon,  from  the 
Rampart  house  to  the  boundary,  formed  part  of 
the  nation  known  to  the  English  missionaries  of 
the  Hudson  Bay  side  as  the  Tukudh  Indians, 
tribes  of  which  extend  over  the  country  enclosed 
by  the  Porcupine  River,  the  Peel  River  to  the 
MacKenzie,  the  Upper  Yukon  to  the  neighbor- 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY.        157 

hood  of  the  Stick  Indians  in  the  south  and  to  the 
southeast  in  the  McMillan  River  country.  They 
speak  of  themselves,  however,  as  Yukon  Indians. 
Their  language  has  been  put  into  print  by  the 
venerable  Robert  McDonald,  archdeacon,  Bibles 
and  hymn  books  being  universally  read  by  all 
from  Nuklukayet  up.  They  are  of  average  size, 
lithe  and  active,  many  of  them  being  quite  grace- 
ful in  their  carriage.  In  appearance  they  ap- 
proach the  typical  North  American  Indians; 
sharp  features,  aquiline  nose,  and  high  cheek 
bones,  with  very  small  feet  and  hands.  They  are 
nomadic  in  their  ways  of  life,  living  in  temporary 
camps  both  winter  and  summer,  either  in  the 
mountains  or  on  the  river  banks,  according  to  the 
habits  of  the  gam.e  they  are  hunting. 

Some  few  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  mining 
camp  are  perceptibly  changing  their  mode  of  life. 
Around  the  trading  post  at  Forty  Mile  Creek 
there  are  a  number  of  log  cabins  built  and  inhabi- 
ted by  them  the  year  around,  and  they  fully  ap- 
precite  the  advantages  of  stoves  and  clothing 
from  the  States.  The  younger  men  are  said  to  be 
more  fastidious  in  their  dress  than  the  average 
white  man.  They  are  industrious  and  fairly  en- 
terprising, many  of  them  working  successfully  at 


168  KLONDIKE. 

mining  for  wages  paid  by  the  whites,  and  some 
are  mining  on  their  own  account.  They  make 
excellent  boatmen,  poling  a  boat  with  skill,  boats 
built  of  sawed  lumber  being  preferred  for  river 
navigation  to  their  own  birch  canoes.  Docile 
and  peaceable  both  among  themselves  and  with 
the  miners,  they  are  strongly  imbued  with  the 
teachings  of  the  English  missionaries,  with  whom 
they  had  more  or  less  intercourse  for  many  years 
previous  to  occupation  of  the  country  by  the 
United  States.  Formerly  their  chief  subsistence 
was  cariboo  and  moose  meat,  and  fish  they  only 
knew  during  the  summer  and  fall,  but  since  the 
arrival  of  the  miners  they  depend  each  year  more 
and  more  on  white  men's  provisions.  Obtaining 
pay  for  work,  they  also  avoid  the  necessity  of 
hunting  for  f^ur  to  buy  provisions  with,  as  used 
to  be  the  case  in  former  years ;  hence  the  falling 
ofif  of  the  supply  of  furs  from  that  section. 

The  population  is  very  sparse.  At  certain 
times  during  the  year  a  traveler  might  pass  down 
the  Yukon  from  Forty  Mile  Creek  to  Nuklukayet 
and  hardly  see  a  score  of  natives  in  a  distance  of 
800  miles.  The  different  villages  or  communities 
seem  to  be  under  the  guidance  of  chiefs  and  sub- 
chiefs,  though  there  does  not  appear  to  be  much 
authority  exerted  by  them. 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY.        159 

Their  mode  of  transportation  in  summer  time 
is  by  rafts,  boats  and  birch  canoes,  and  is  entire- 
ly confined  to  the  streams  and  water  courses;  in 
the  winter  time  sleds  are  used,  drawn  by  dogs, 
men  or  women.  Their  language  is  known  to  the 
missionaries  as  a  dialect  of  Tukudh  (Tukuth),  but 
they  converse  with  the  traders  in  a  jargon  called 
"Slavey,"  a  mixture  of  Canadian  French  and  hy- 
brid words  of  English,  something  in  the  nature  of 
the  ''Chinook"  of  southeastern  Alaska. 

At  Nuklukayet  and  down  to  the  vicinity  of 
Nulato  changes  are  to  be  observed  in  the  na- 
tives; though  very  similar  in  general  appearance, 
they  seem  to  be  a  mixture  of  tribes  from  the 
Koyukuk  and  Tanana  Rivers  and  of  Ingalik, 
from  lower  down  the  Yukon. 

Their  language  is  different,  though  many  can 
converse  in  a  dialect  that  is  understood  by  the 
Upper  Yukon  people.  They  are  not  so  nomadic 
in  their  way  of  life,  living  in  villages,  building 
log  cabins  and  huts  of  earth  and  logs.  They  de- 
pend most  largely  on  the  supply  of  fish  and  not 
so  much  on  game.  They  are  mostly  addicted  to 
paganism,  being  more  superstitious  and  depend- 
ing on  instructions  from  the  shaman,  or  medi- 
cine man.    They  also  are  becoming  yearly  more 


160  KLONDIKE. 

dependent  on  provisions  from  the  States,  but 
have  to  procure  them  by  trapping  fur-bearing  an- 
imals to  a  far  larger  extent  than  those  of  the  up- 
per river.  They  are  shrewd  traders,  taking,  ad- 
vantage of  every  point.  They  do  not  so  readily 
adapt  themselves  to  the  ways  of  the  white  man. 
They  are  more  pugnacious,  quick-tempered,  re- 
senting a  fancied  injury  or  insult  very  quickly 
with  force.  Many  years  ago  some  of  them  killed 
a  white  woman,  the  wife  of  a  trader  at  a  post  a 
few  miles  up  the  Tanana  River,  at  the  instigation 
of  a  shaman.  Four  years  ago  at  Nuklukayet,  on 
account  of  a  disagreement  with  a  trader,  they 
broke  open  the  store,  scattered  the  goods  about 
recklessly  and  would  have  shed  blood  if  they 
had  not  met  with  adequate  resistance.  Relig- 
ious teaching  does  not  seem  to  have  the  same  ef- 
fect upon  them  as  on  the  natives  on  the  upper 
river.  They  have  had  visits  from  Russian  priests 
and  resident  English  missionaries  in  past  years, 
without  much  notable  e^^ect  upon  their  lives  or 
morals.  Their  villages  are  only  found  on  the 
main  river,  hunting  parties  only  going  into  the 
back  country  temporarily,  at  which  time  all  the 
members  of  the  families  take  part  in  the  expedi- 
tion.   The  population  found  on  this  part  of  the 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY.        161 

river  is  much  larger  than  that  of  the  Upper  Yu- 
kon. There  is  no  time  of  the  year  when  more  or 
less  people  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  villages, 
and  we  find  among  them  a  larger  proportion  of 
females  than  on  the  Upper  Yukon.  Some  time 
ago  the  lack  of  females  was  most  noticeable 
among  the  Indians  of  the  upper  river,  attributa- 
ble to  hard  usage  and  the  work  they  were  com- 
pelled to  do,  as  well  as  to  the  lack  of  care  of 
female  children.  Of  late,  however,  female  chil- 
dren have  been  better  taken  care  of,  and  proba- 
bly in  course  of  time  there  will  be  more  mar- 
riageable women  among  them.  Most  of  the  mar- 
ried women  to  be  seen  there  at  present  come 
from  the  Koyukuk  or  the  Lower  Yukon  River. 
The  Nuklukayet  and  Nowikaket  people  claim 
to  have  their  origin  from  the  tribe  on  the  Koyu- 
kuk River  in  the  north.  The  Tanana  River  and 
Upper  Yukon  Indians  speak  an  entirely  dififerent 
language,  though  there  is  a  dialect  by  which 
they  can  communicate  with  the  various  tribes. 

The  fur  trade  has  undergone  considerable 
change  of  late  years,  the  catch  of  furs  being  con- 
siderable less  than  formerly,  partly  owing  to  tlie 
decrease  of  fur-bearing  animals,  and  also  to  their 
being  more  white  men  in  the  country-,  indepen- 
11 


1G2  KLONDIKE. 

dent  of  the  fur  traders,  causing  the  circulation  of 
more  money  among  the  natives,  with  which  they 
buy  instead  of  trading  furs.  The  average  catch 
of  land  furs  for  the  whole  year  ranges  from  i6,- 
Goo  to  20,000  pelts,  usually  with  a  large  propor- 
tion of  mink  skins,  the  lowest -priced  fur  on  the 
market. 

There  are  six  trading  posts  at  points  on  the 
river  in  Alaska.  The  traders,  to  reach  the  back 
country,  usually  fit  out  trusty  natives  with  small 
stock  of  goods  to  travel  among  the  distant  tribes. 
Since  the  discontinuance  of  opposition  the  white 
traders  do  not  travel  in  the  winter.  The  prices 
paid  are  regulated  by  the  standard  price  of  red 
fox  or  martin,  called  one  skin,  about  $1.25.  A 
prime  beaver  would  be  two  skins,  black  bear 
four  skins,  lynx  one  skin,  land  otter  two  or  three 
skins  and  so  on.  Five  yards  of  drilling  or  one 
pound  of  tea  or  one  pound  of  powder  or  half  a 
pound  of  powder  with  one  box  of  caps  and  one 
pound  of  shot  are  given  for  one  skin,  fifty  pounds 
of  f^our  for  four  skins,  five  pounds  of  sugar  for 
one  skin.  These  are  sample  prices  obtained  by 
the  natives,  with  little  variation,  until  the  mining 
district  is  reached,  where  the  prices  are  higher, 
to  conform  with  the  prices  charp;ed  to  miners. 

The  merchandise  is  carried  on  the  river  by 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY.        163 

means  of  stern-wheel  steamers,  the  two  principle 
ones  belonging  to  the  Alaska  Commercial  Com- 
pany, one  of  200  tons,  the  other  of  thirty  tons 
capacity,  carrying  freight  and  passengers.  On 
the  larger  boat  there  is  a  white  man  for  captain 
and  another  for  engineer,  but  both  captain  and 
engineer  are  unlicensed  and  without  papers;  the 
rest  of  the  crew  are  Indians.  There  are  three 
other  small  steamers,  two  belonging  to  the  Rus- 
sian and  Catholic  missionaries  respectively  and 
one  to  the  traders  at  Fort  Selkirk.  All  supplies 
are  received  at  St.  Michael  on  Norton  Sound, 
ninety  miles  north  of  the  mouth  of  the  Yukon, 
the  furs  and  gold  obtained  being  turned  over  to 
the  Alaska  Commercial  Company's  agent  there 
and  shipped  to  San  Francisco.  Once  a  year,  in 
June,  the  missionaries  and  traders  assemble  at 
St.  Michael's  and  for  a  few  days  that  place  is  do- 
ing a  rushing  business.  It  has  become  a  regular 
fair  for  the  natives,  who  gather  in  numbers  from 
various  points  on  the  coast  and  river,  getting  a 
few  days'  work  from  the  company  and  having  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  the  new  stock  of  merchan- 
dise. 

The  influx  of  miners  to  the  country  has  pro- 
duced marked  changes  among  the  natives,  and 


164  KLONDIKE. 

not  to  their  benefit  morally.  The  illicit  manu- 
facture and  use  of  liquor,  both  by  the  traders  of 
the  company  and  miners,  is  demoralizing  the  na- 
tives to  a  great  extent.  It  is  openly  carried  on 
both  the  upper  and  lower  rivers.  At  Andreafriky, 
on  the  lower  river,  it  is  a  common  sight  to  see 
intoxicated  natives,  more  especially  in  the  win- 
ter, and  the  natives  have  now  learned  the  pro- 
cess of  making  liquor  themselves,  more  partica- 
larly  on  the  coast  and  the  Lower  Yukon. 

On  the  coast  the  temperature  varies  from  70 
degrees  Fahrenheit  in  summer  to  40  degrees  and 
45  degrees  below  zero  in  the  winter.  The  late 
summer  and  fall  is  usually  stormy  and  wet,  the 
snow  fall  in  winter  being  from  three  to  five  feet 
on  a  level.  Navigation  is  closed  to  the  outside 
for  seven  months  in  the  year  by  heavy  ice  on  the 
sea.  The  Yukon  River  is  closed  by  ice  from  No- 
vember to  the  end  of  May.  In  the  interior  the 
climate  is  dryer  and  warmer  in  summer,  but  many 
degrees  colder  in  winter,  the  thermometer  going 
as  low  as  60  degrees  below  zero.  The  snow  fall 
is  excessive,  but  less  wind  prevails  here  in  winter 
than  on  the  coast. 

For  many  miles  on  the  lower  river  the  banks 
are  devoid  of  timber  other  than    a    stumpage 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY.        166 

growth  of  willow  brush,  alder  and  cottonwood. 
The  first  spruce  timber  is  seen  some  fifty  miles 
below  the  Russian  mission,  at  Ikomiut,  and  from 
there  up  to  its  head  the  river  is  more  or  less 
belted  with  timber,  spruce,  fir,  hemlock,  birch, 
alder  and  cottonwood  being  the  varieties  most 
predominant. 

On  the  low  islands  and  flats  the  spruce  at- 
tain;-: a  considerable  size,  but  as  lumber  it  is  not 
adapted  for  any  purpose  beyond  the  needs  of  the 
miners  and  others  in  the  country,  being  checked 
by  frost  and  full  of  knots.  The  growth  of  tim- 
ber seems  to  be  entirely  confined  to  the  margins 
of  the  streams  and  rivers  in  many  instances  being 
merely  a  fringe  on  the  banks. 

There  is  a  great  variety  of  berries  to  be  found 
all  through  the  country;  high  and  low  bush  cran- 
berries, blueberries,  salmon  berries,  red  currants, 
and  raspberries.  The  salmon  or  dewberries  abound 
on  the  swampy  lands  of  the  Lower  Yukon,  and 
are  gathered  by  the  natives  in  quantities,  who 
preserve  them  by  burying  them  in  the  ground, 
using  them  as  a  delicacy  in  the  winter,  mixed 
with  seal  oil  or  deer  fat  and  snow. 

Game  is  said  to  be  scarce,  considering  the  im- 


166  KLONDIKE. 

mense  stretches  of  uninhabited  country.  Numer- 
ous signs  are  to  be  seen  on  the  banks  of  the  main 
river,  but  so  far  few  white  men  have  proved  suc- 
cessful hunters,  owing  to  the  difhcuUies  of  travel. 
An  Indian  traveling  with  no  impediments  can 
scour  over  the  country,  and,  being  acquainted 
with  every  game  sign,  can  obtain  some  reward 
for  his  exertion,  where  a  white  man  would  starve. 

Though  some  distance  to  the  north  of  the  en- 
trance of  the  Yukon  River,  St.  Michael  has  al- 
w^ays  been  a  controlling  centre  and  basis  of  sup- 
plies for  the  great  river  of  the  far  northwest. 
From  here  the  hardy  Muscovite  pioneers  pushed 
their  advance  slowly  and  laboriously  with  clumsy 
boats  in  skin-covered  "bidars,"  and  trudging  over 
the  frozen  snow  plains  with  their  dog  teams  until 
the  met  the  forerunners  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany on  their  way  down  the  river,  which  English 
geographers  of  that  time  pictured  as  emptying 
into  the  Arctic. 

As  long  as  the  Russians  were  in  possession  of 
this  region  all  furs  secured  in  the  Kuskokwim 
Valley  were  transported  over  the  Yukon  portage 
to  St.  Michael,  and  thence  shipped  to  Sitka,  to- 
gether with  those  obtained  by  barter  from  the 
natives    of  the    shores    and    islands  of    Bering 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY.        167 

Strait.  The  first  American  traders  to  engage 
in  the  Yukon  trade  were  members  of  the  Western 
Union  Telegraph  expedition,  and  foremost 
among  these  pioneers  were  Ketchum  and  Clark. 
Later  came  Mercier,  a  brother  of  the  Canadian 
ex-minister,  and  a  host  of  other  French  Canadi- 
ans, together  with  three  prospectors,  McQueston, 
Mayo  (Americans),  and  Harper  (an  Englishman), 
who  still  control  the  trade  and  much  of  the  min- 
ing industry  of  the  Upper  Yukon  and  its  trib- 
utaries from  Fort  Selkirk  westward. 

The  basis  of  supplies  for  the  whole  district 
was  early  taken  by  the  Alaska  Commercial  Com- 
pany, who  at  first  utilized  a  small  stern-wheel 
steamer  placed  upon  the  river  by  the  telegraph 
company,  and  later  built  other  vessels  for  the  pur- 
pose of  towing  loaded  barges  up  the  river.  Later 
the  firms  who  entered  into  competition  with  the 
company  in  other  districts  made  a  lodgment  near 
St.  Michael,  and  another  steamer  was  placed  upon 
the  river. 

In  the  year  1883  this  opposition  collapsed,  but 
shortly  after  the  bar  diggings  of  Forty  Mile 
Creek  and  other  parts  of  the  Upper  Yukon  were 
discovered,  which  caused  a  sudden  revival  of 
trade,  chiefly  in  miners'  supplies,  and  induced  the 


168  KLONDIKE. 

traders  mentioned  above  to  acquire  small  steam- 
boats of  their  own. 

The  flourishing  missionary  establishments  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  and  the  Episcopalian 
Churches  also  serve  to  increase  traffic  upon  the 
great  river  during  the  brief  season  of  navigation. 
Both  the  Roman  Catholic  and  the  Russian  Ortho- 
dox missions  now  possess  steamers  for  carrying 
their  freight  up  from  St.  Michael  and  to  trans- 
port their  missionaries  over  their  extensive  field 
of  labor. 

The  post  of  St.  Michael,  though  insignificant 
in  dimensions  and  most  desolate  surroundings, 
springs  into  life  and  activity  once  a  year.  With 
the  first  breath  of  spring,  at  the  end  of  May, 
the  up-river  people  shake  off  their  winter's  leth- 
argy and  prepare  for  their  annual  meeting  with 
their  fellows  from  the  outside  world.  The  steam- 
ers, which  had  been  hauled  up  at  various  points 
on  the  river  bank  in  the  autumn,  are  prepared 
and  launched  once  more  upon  the  muddy  waters 
as  soon  as  the  ice  has  ceased  to  float  down  the 
rapid  current,  crashing  and  grinding  cake  against 
cake,  or  pressing  against  the  forest  border  of  the 
channel,  cutting  and  barking  the  trees,  and 
down  in  the  treeless  waste  of  the  lower  river,  un- 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY.        169 

dermining  the  soft  clay  banks  and  changing  the 
face  of  the  landscape. 

Traders,  missionaries,  miners  and  nai:ives 
crowd  every  craft  and  enjoy  the  hospitality  freely 
Oiifered  them  on  their  seaward  progress  at  posts 
and  missions. 

By  the  end  of  June  all  these  Yukon  pilgrims 
have  reached  their  goal,  St.  Michael,  and,  while 
they  are  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  the  ocean 
steamer,  accounts  are  regulated  and  engagements 
entered  into  for  the  transactions  for  the  coming 
season.  The  natives  assembled  here  on  these 
occasions  represent  all  the  tribes  of  the  Yukon 
and  many  of  those  of  the  Arctic  and  the  Bering 
Sea  coast.  Most  of  these  bring  trade  with  furs 
or  ivory  and  whalebone,  and,  though  all  strive  to 
hold  their  wares  from  the  white  man  until  the 
steamer  arrives  with  the  new  stock  of  goods, 
quite  an  exchange  of  commodities  goes  on  in  the 
meantime  among  themselves. 

With  the  arrival  of  the  steamer,  which  is  some- 
times delayed  weeks,  causing  much  inconveni- 
ence to  the  commissary  department  of  so  large 
an  assemblage,  business  activity  rises  at  once  to 
fever  heat.  Miners  in  ragged  garments,  showing 
the  wear  and  tear  of  sub-arctic  travel,  Indians  of 


170  KLONDIKE. 

the  interior  in  beaded  suits  of  tanned  moose  skin, 
and  Eskimo  in  furs,  all  lend  a  hand  and  labor 
cheerfully,  getting  the  cargo  ashore  and  reload- 
ing it  on  the  river  boats.  The  black-robed  mis- 
sionary relaxes  from  his  habitual  dignity,  and  can 
be  seen  trundling  barrels  and  bales  and  trucking 
boxes  and  miscellaneous  packages  over  the 
planked  walls  of  the  crowded  station.  The  light 
of  day  lasts  all  through  the  brief  arctic  summer 
night,  and  the  turmoil  is  kept  up  almost  without 
cessation  until  at  last  the  steamer's  whistle  warns 
those  who  do  not  wish  to  spend  another  winter  in 
these  desolate  regions  that  they  must  depart.  The 
lucky  individuals,  who  have  bags  of  gold  dust 
in  the  purser's  safe,  seek  their  comfortable  state- 
rooms, while  the  rank  and  file  of  prospectors 
cheerfully  accept  such  accommodations  as  steer- 
age or  deck  afiford,  brining  out  of  the  country  no 
more,  and'  probably  much  less,  than  they  brought 
into  it  over  the  toilsome  road  from  Chilkoot  to 
the  Yukon  diggings. 

The  trade  of  the  Upper  Yukon  is  of  great  vol- 
ume, but  it  is  carried  on  under  peculiar  condi- 
tions. The  supplies  are  purchased  in  the  United 
States,  chiefly  in  California,  and  carried  thence 
to  St.  Michael.     From,  here  the  river  steamers, 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY.        171 

carrying  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  ascend  the  river, 
dropping  freight  at  intermediate  stations,  but  the 
principal  business  is  transacted  at  the  point  of 
junction  between  the  Yukon  River  and  Forty 
Mile  Creek,  some  thiry  miles  beyond  our  bound- 
ary. The  purchasers  here  are  miners  who  toil  in 
the  upper  ravines  of  Forty  Mile  Creek,  which  lie 
within  the  limits  of  Alaska.  Prices  are  necessar- 
ily high,  for  during  every  winter  the  trader  is 
called  upon  to  feed  numbers  of  unsuccessful  min- 
ers and  assist  them  in  leaving  the  country  in  the 
spring. 

The  Alpine  coast  region,  rising  abruptly  from 
the  shores  of  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  between 
Cape  Spencer  on  the  east  and  Mount  St.  Elias  on 
the  west,  has  been  the  objective  point  of  several 
exploring  expeditions.  Lieutenant  Frederick 
Schwatka,  formerly  of  the  United  States  Army; 
Professor  Libby  and  Lieutenant  Selton-Karr,  of 
the  British  Army,  were  among  the  first  to  at- 
tempt the  exploration  and  partial  ascent  of  Mt. 
St.  Elias,  a  giant  among  the  mountain  peaks  of 
North  America..  They  were  followed  later  by 
well-organized  parties  under  the  auspices  of  the 
National  Geographic  Society  and  the  United 
States  Geological  Survey.  Under  the  leadership  of 


172  KLONDIKE. 

Professor  I.  C.  Russell  these  parties  have  attained 
in  two  successive  seasons  a  large  amount  of  the 
most  valuable  information  concerning  this  moun- 
tain, w^hich  is  claimed  by  Americans  and  English 
alike  as  lying  within  their  boundaries. 

In  the  course  of  his  second  exploration  Profes- 
sor Russell,  after  reaching  a  height  of  14,000 
feet,  succeeded  in  making  measurements  of  Mt. 
St.  Elias  from  a  base  line  on  the  sea  shore,  from 
which  the  height  of  the  mountain  was  computed, 
at  18,100  feet.  On  the  return  journey  the  low 
coast  region  lying  at  the  foot  of  the  observations 
was  made  in  Disecnhantment  Bay,  at  the  head  of 
Yakutat  Bay,  furnishing  material  for  the  compila- 
tion of  a  reliable  map  of  the  estuary,  exhibiting 
a  remarkable  deviation  from  the  outlines  here- 
tofore accepted  on  the  authority  of  Tebenkof  and 
others,  who  did  not  personally  explore  the  inner- 
most recesses  of  this  great  bay. 

Another  important  exploration,  resulting  in  the 
collection  of  much  information  concerning  the 
interior  geography  and  topography  in  Alaska  and 
adjoining  territory  in  the  British  possessions  was 
made  by  Lieutenant  Frederick  Schwatka,  accom- 
panied by  Lieutenant  Hayes,  of  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey.     This  expedition  set  out  in 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY.       173 

an  easterly  direction  from  Taku  Inlet  along  Taku 
river;  then  crossing-  the  coast  range,  they  emerged 
upon  the  banks  of  Lake  Aklene,  which  is  prob- 
ably the  true  head  of  the  Yukon  River.  Follow- 
ing the  northern  outlet  of  this  lake,  the  party 
passed  the  mouth  of  the  tributary  heretofore  ac- 
cepted as  the  Yukon's  head,  a  few  miles  above 
Lake  Labarge.  Thence  to  Fort  Selkirk  their 
course  was  over  a  well-known  course,  but  on 
leaving  that  point  an  entirely  new  route  was  fol- 
lowed, leading  towards  the  mountains  forming 
the  divide  between  the  Yukon  Basin,  the  upper 
course  of  White  River,  and  the  easternmost  tribu- 
tary of  Copper  River.  After  discovering  a  pass 
but  little  over  5000  feet  in  height  the  party 
struck  the  Chityna  River,  about  midway  between 
its  headwaters  and  its  junction  with  the  Copper. 
The  latter  river  was  then  followed  to  the  coast. 

Valuable  additions  have  also  been  made  to  our 
knowledge  of  Alaskan  geography  by  the  mem- 
bers of  an  exploring  expedition  organized  in  1890 
under  the  auspices  of  Frank  Leslie's  Illustrated 
Weekly.  The  leaders  of  the  party,  Messrs.  A. 
J.  Wells,  E.  J.  Glave  and  A.  B.  Schanz,  entered 
the  interior  by  way  of  the  Chilkoot  River,  and, 
after  crossing  the  coast  range,  came  upon  a  large 


174  KLONDIKE. 

lake,  the  head  of  the  Tahkina  tributary  of  the 
Yukon,  which  was  named  Lake  Arkell.  It  is 
probable  that  this  is  the  same  lake  which  the 
German  explorer,  Krause,  visited  in  1879  and 
named  Western  Kussoa,  in  contra-distinction 
from  the  Eastern  Kussoa  which  he  found  beyond 
the  Chilkoot  Pass.  Here  Mr.  Glave  left  the 
party,  and,  striking  across  the  coast  range  south- 
ward, discovered  the  headwaters  of  the  Alsekh 
River;  following  down  its  channel  to  the  coast 
at  Dry  Bay,  Messrs.  Wells  and  Schanz  proceeded 
to  the  Upper  Yukon  by  the  usual  route.  At 
Forty  Mile  Creek  Mr.  Wells  and  another  white 
man  turned  off,  and,  with  the  assistance  of  a 
miner  who  was  engaged  as  guide,  crossed  over 
into  the  basin  of  the  Tanana  River  and  explored 
an  unknown  tributary  of  that  stream.  Mr.  Schanz 
traveled  down  the  Yukon  to  St.  Michael,  and 
thence  back  to  the  Kuskokwim  Portage  and 
down  that  river  to  the  sea  coast,  reaching  Bristol 
Bay  in  October.  Here  he  was  joined  a  month 
loter  by  Mr.  Wells  and  his  party,  who  had  fol- 
lowed the  same  route  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Tanana  River.  During  the  months  of  January 
and  February  Mr.  Schanz,  in  company  with  Mr. 
J.  W.  Clark,  accomplished  a  dog  sledge  journey 


THE  BOUNDARY  DISPUTE.  175 

of  discovery,  resulting  in  the  definite  location  and 
exploration  of  a  large  lake  to  the  northward  of 
Lake  Lliamna.  This  important  sheet  of  water, 
some  seventy-five  miles  long,  was  named  Lake 
Clark,  The  Noghelin  River,  broken  about  mid- 
way by  a  magnificent  fall,  connects  it  with  Lake 
Lliamna,  of  which  it  is  the  principal  feeder. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  BOUNDARY  DISPUTE. 

There  is  every  probability  that  the  new  dis- 
coveries of  gold  will  bring  the  long  pending 
boundary  dispute  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  to  a  head,  for  the  most  profitable 
diggings  are  situated  near  the  141st  meridian, 
which  is  the  boundary  fixed  by  treaty  in  the 
Northwestern  territory.  Unfortunately  this 
country  has  never  been  adequately  surveyed, 
and  there  is  great  uncertainty  as  to  whether 
some  of  the  richest  creeks  are  situated  on  Alas- 
kan or  British  soil.  The  Canadian  authorities 
have  lost  no  time  in  assuming  that  the  boundary' 
line  should  be  so  drawn  as  to  bring  all  the  finest 


176  KLONDIKE. 

deposits  to  the  East  There  is  no  doubt  that 
Klondike  River  is  in  Canadian  territory,  but  the 
Canadian  newspapers  claim  persistently  that  Mil- 
ler's Creek  and  the  other  gold  yielding  creeks 
near  by  are  east  of  the  line. 

It  appears  from  the  report  of  General  W.  W. 
Duffield,  Chief  of  the  United  States  Coast  and 
Geodetic  Survey,  that  in  spite  of  Klondike,  the 
United  States  has  the  lion's  share  of  the  gold 
fields. 

"In  the  Yukon  region,"  he  says,  "the  surveys 
of  the  -epresentatives  of  the  United  States  and 
those  of  Great  Britain  are  very  nearly  identical, 
with  one  or  two  exceptions,  and  are  remarkable 
when  all  things  are  considered.  Her  Majesty's 
surveyor,  Ogilvie,  was  appointed  by  Mr.  King, 
and  went  up  there  in  1890.  The  coast  survey 
tested  the  work  of  Ogilvie  and  the  Canadians  on 
Forty-Mile  Creek  and  on  the  Yukon.  They 
found  at  Forty-Mile  Creek  a  pine  tree  marked 
by  Ogilvie,  which  lacked  only  fifteen-one-hun- 
dredths  of  a  second  of  being  identical  with  the 
determination  of  the  Coast  Survey.  In  that  lat- 
itude this  makes  a  difference  of  six  feet  and  seven 
inches.  On  the  Yukon,  Ogilvie  marked  a  wil- 
low tree  on  the  south  or  left  bank  and  a  pine  on 


THE  BOUNDARY  DISPUTE.  177 

the  right  or  north  bank.  When  these  were 
tested  they  were  found  to  be  fourteen  seconds 
and  22-iooths  out.  This  in  that  latitude  is  a  dis- 
tance of  6i8  feet.  One  of  these  marks — that  at 
Forty-Mile  Creek — is  too  far  west,  so  that  the 
United  States  loses  six  feet  and  seven  inches.  On 
the  Yukon  the  point  is  too  far  east,  so  that  the 
United  States  gains  and  Canada  loses  6i8  feet. 
The  Coast  Survey  has  marked  the  crossing  of  the 
141st  meridian  at  Porcupine  Creek,  but  the  Ca- 
nadians have  never  tested  it.  Considering  the 
fact  that  Ogilvie  was  traveling  light  on  snow 
shoes,  and  that  almost  all  of  his  determinations 
were  made  with  the  sextant,  his  work  is  excel- 
lent. 

'Tn  substance,  these  determinations  throw  the 
diggings  at  the  mouth  of  Forty-Mile  Creek  with- 
in the  territory  of  the  United  States.  The  whole 
valley  of  Birch  Creek,  another  most  valuable 
gold  producing  part  of  the  country,  is  also  in  the 
territory  of  the  United  States.  Most  of  the  gold 
is  to  the  west  of  the  crossing  of  the  141st  mer- 
idian at  Forty-Mile  Creek. 

"If  we  produce  the  141st  meridian  on  a  chart, 
the  mouth  of  Miller's  Creek,  a  tributary  of  Sixty- 
Mile  Creek,  and  a  valuable  gold  region,  is  five 
12 


178  KLONDIKE. 

tniles  west  in  an  air  line,  or  seven  miles  accord- 
ing to  the  windings  of  the  stream — all  within  the 
territory  of  the  United  States.  In  substance,  the 
only  places  in  the  Yukon  region  where  gold  in 
quantities  has  been  found,  are,  therefore,  all  to 
the  west  of  the  boundary  line  between  Canada 
and  the  United  States." 

In  spite  of  this  the  very  latest  Canadian  map 
claims  Miller's  Creek  and  Glacier  Creek. 

This  is  not  all.  For  the  last  twelve  years  the 
British  Government  has  been  trying  by  con- 
tinually increasing  claims  to  shake  the  hold  of 
the  United  States  upon  the  strip  of  mainland  in 
Southeastern  Alaska,  and  upon  some  of  the  gold 
bearing  islands. 

Up  to  1884  both  countries  were  practically  at 
one  as  to  the  boundary  line  from  Mt.  St.  Elias  to 
the  southeast.  According  to  the  terms  of  the 
treaty  between  Russia  and  Great  Britain,  the 
United  States,  in  purchasing  Alaska  in  1867,  ac- 
quired all  of  Russia's  rights.  In  describing  the 
southeastern  boundary  the  Anglo-Russian  treaty 
reads: 

"The  line  of  demarkation  between  the  possess- 
ions of  the  high  contracting  parties  upon  the 
coast  of  the  continent  and  the  islands  of  America 


THE  BOUNDARY  DISPUTE.  179 

to  the  northwest  shall  be  drawn  in  the  following 
manner:  Commencing  from  the  southernmost 
point  of  the  island  called  Prince  of  Wales  Island, 
which  point  lies  in  the  parallel  of  54  degrees  40 
minutes  north  latitude,  and  between  the  131st 
degree  and  the  133d  degree  of  west  longitude, 
the  same  line  shall  ascend  to  the  north  along  the 
channel  called  Portland  Channel,  as  far  as  the 
point  of  the  continent  where  it  strikes  the  56th 
degree  of  north  latitude;  from  this  last-mentioned 
point  the  line  of  demarkation  shall  follow  the 
summit  of  the  mountains  situated  parallel  to  the 
coast  as  far  as  the  point  of  intersection  of  the 
141st  degree  of  w^est  longitude  (of  the  same 
meridian),  and  finally,  from  the  said  point  of  in- 
tersection, the  said  meridian  line  of  the  141st  de- 
gree, in  its  prolongation  as  far  as  the  frozen 
ocean,  shall  form  the  limit  between  the  Russian 
and  British  possessions  on  the  continent  of 
America  to  the  northwest. 

"Whenever  the  summit  of  the  mountains 
which  extend  in  a  direction  parallel  to  the  coast 
from  the  56th  degree  of  north  latitude  to  the 
point  of  intersection  of  the  141st  degree  of  west 
longitude,  shall  prove  to  be  at  the  distance  of 
more   than   ten  marine  leagues  from  the  ocean, 


180  KLONDIKE. 

the  limit  between  the  British  possessions  and  the 
line  of  coast  which  is  to  belong  to  Russia,  as 
above  mentioned  (that  is  to  say,  the  limit  to  the 
possessions  ceded  by  this  convention),  shall  be 
formed  by  a  line  parallel  to  the  winding  of  the 
coast,  and  which  shall  never  exceed  the  distance 
of  ten  marine  leagues  therefrom." 

On  all  maps  from  1825  down  to  1884  the  boun- 
dary line,  it  was  declared,  had  been  shown  as,  in 
general  terms,  parallel  to  the  winding  of  the 
coast,  and  thirty-five  miles  from  it.  In  1884, 
however,  an  official  Canadian  map  showed  a 
marked  deflection  in  this  line  at  its  south  end. 
Instead  of  passing  up  Portland  Canal  this  Cana- 
dian map  showed  the  boundary  as  passing  up 
Behm  Canal,  an  arm  of  the  sea  some  sixty  or 
seventy  miles  west  of  Portland  Canal,  this 
change  having  been  made  on  the  bare  assertion 
that  the  words  Portland  Canal  as  inserted  were 
an  error.  By  this  change  the  line  and  an  area 
of  American  territory  about  equal  in  size  to  the 
State  of  Connecticut  was  transferred  to  British 
territory.  There  are  several  facts  which  militate 
against  this  claim.  In  the  first  place,  the  British 
Admirality,  when  surveying  the  northern  limit 
of  British  Columbian  possession,    in    1868,    one 


THE  BOUNDARY  DISPUTE.  181 

year  after  the  cession  of  Alaska,  surveyed  Port- 
land Canal,  and  not  Behm  Canal,  thus  by  impli- 
cation admitting  this  canal  as  the  boundary  line. 
The  region  now  claimed  by  British  Colum- 
bia was  at  that  time  occupied  by  a  military  post 
of  the  United  States  without  objection  or  protest 
on  the  part  of  British  Columbia.  Annette 
Island,  in  this  region,  was,  by  an  act  of  Congress, 
four  years  ago,  set  apart  as  a  reservation  for  the 
use  of  the  Metlakatla  Indians.  Within  a  year 
the  United  States  Engineers,  by  authorization  of 
Congress,  have  made  an  official  survey  of  the 
west  bank  of  Portland  Canal,  building  stone 
houses  at  various  places,  and  thus  exercising  an 
undoubted  act  of  sovereignty. 

Another  grab  was  made  at  Lynn  Canal,  the 
northernmost  extension  of  the  Alexander  Archi- 
pelago, which  runs  north  of  Juneau,  and  is  the 
land  outlet  for  the  Yukon  trade.  The  official 
Canadian  map  of  1884  carried  the  boundary  line 
around  the  head  of  this  canal;  another  Canadian 
canal  map  three  years  later  carried  the  line 
across  the  head  of  the  canal  in  such  manner  as 
to  throw  its  head-waters  into  British  territory; 
still  later,  Canadian  maps  carry  the  line  not 
across  the  head  of  the  canal,  but  cross   near   its 


182  KLONDIKE. 

mouth,  some  sixty  or  seventy  miles  south  of  the 
former  Hne,  in  such  a  way  as  to  practically  take 
in  Juneau,  or,  at  least,  all  the  land  immediately 
back  of  it.  And  the  very  latest  official  map,  just 
published  at  Ottawa,  while  it  runs  no  line  south- 
east of  Alaska,  prints  the  legend  "British  Colum- 
bia" over  portions  of  the  Lynn  Canal  that  are 
now  administered  by  the  United  States.  The 
post  of  Dyea,  marked  Ty-a  or  Tyea,  on  Cana- 
dian maps,  which  is  at  the  head  of  navigation  on 
Lynn  Canal,  and  where  the  trail  starts  into  the 
interior  for  the  Yukon,  which  was  made  a  sub- 
port  of  entry  the  other  day  by  Secretary  Gage, 
is  claimed  by  the  Canadians. 


CHAPTER  XL 


GOLD  PRODUCTION  OF  THE  WORLD. 

The  United  States  is  the  chief  gold  producing 
country  in  the  world.  We  have  held  the  lead 
ever  since  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California, 
with  the  exception  of  1894,  when  we  fell  to  third 
place,  surrendering  first  place  to  Australia  and 


'^iA 


GOLD  PRODUCTION  OF  THE  WORLD.         183 

the  second  to  Africa.  The  United  States  regained 
in  1895  t-'^^  place  lost  in  1894,  its  output  of  gold 
in  the  former  year  having  exceeded  that  of  1894 
by  $7,110,000.  In  1895  ^^^  gold  yield  of  the 
United  States  was  2,254,760  ounces  fine,  valued 
at  $46,610,000,  while  the  yield  of  Australasia  was 
2,167,1 17  ounces,  valued  at  $43,893,300.  The  lat- 
est reported  findings,  as  it  happens,  will  not  prop- 
erly be  credited  to  the  United  States,  but  with  the 
development  of  the  fields  actually  situated  on  the 
Alaskan  side  of  the  boundary,  there  is  almost 
sure  to  be  such  an  addition  to  the  product  of  the 
United  States  mines  as  to  place  them  easily  and 
permanently  at  the  head  of  the  gold-producing 
countries  of  the  world.  The  largest  production  of 
gold  in  the  United  States  for  any  single  year  was 
$65,cxx),ooo,  in  1853.  The  next  most  productive 
years  were  1852  and  1854,  when  the  returns  were 
$60,000,000  for  each  year.  The  least  productive 
year  since  the  gold  discoveries  in  California  was 
1883,  when  only  $30,000,000  was  mined.  Since 
then  the  advance  has  been  steady. 

The  gold  output  of  the  world  from  the  time 
of  the  discovery  of  America  to  the  close  of  the 
fiscal  year  1S95  has  been  estimated  at  $8,781,858,- 
700.    The  California  gold  field  since  their  discov- 


184  KLONDIKE. 

ery  in  1849  have  alone  yielded  $2,035,416,000. 
The  total  output  of  the  Australian  mines,  which 
were  first  worked  in  1851,  has  been  $1,655,713,- 
000,  and  gold  has  been  taken  out  of  the  mines  of 
South  Africa  since  1890  to  the  amount  of  $211,- 
632,990.  The  total  production  of  the  world  in  the 
last  three  years  has  been  as  follows : 

1893— $157,494,800. 
1894— $181,567,800. 
1895— $200,215,700. 

Of  these  amounts  considerably  more  than  50 
per  cent,  has  come  from  the  United  States, 
Australasia,  Russia  and  South  Africa,  as  follows: 

1893.  1894.  1895. 

Dollars.       Dollars.       Dollars. 
United  States.  .35,955,000  39,500,000  46,610,000 
Australasia  .  ..35,688,600  41,760,800  44,798,300 

Russia 27,808,200  24,133,400  28,894,400 

Dominion  of 

Canada  ....  927,200  1,042,100  1,910,900 
Africa 28,943,500  40,271,000  44,554,900 


CHAPTER  XII. 


CHARACTERISTICS    OF   OUR    NORTH- 
WESTERN POSSESSIONS. 
By  JOHN  F.  PRATT. 

To  those  who  are  famiHar  with  the  story  of  the 
northwestern  country  the  rich  discoveries  of  gold 
in  the  Yukon  Valley  are  no  surprise.  They  form 
a  chapter  in  the  gold  findings  of  that  region 
which  has  been  writing  for  many  years.  Just  be- 
fore the  war  there  was  widespread  excitement 
over  the  discovery  of  gold  in  the  Caribou  dis- 
trict of  British  Columbia,  and  the  diggings  there 
for  a  time  were  very  rich.  The  craze  resulted  in 
much  hardship  and  many  deaths.  Later,  subse- 
quent to  the  purchase  of  Alaska,  gold  was  found 
in  ccnsiderable  quantities  in  the  Cassiar  district, 
farther  to  the  northwest  in  British  America. 

The  Cassiar  Mountains  are  situated  between 
the  6oth  and  65th  degrees  of  north  latitude,  at 
the  headwaters  of  the  Pelly  River.  They  are 
reached  by  way  of  the  Stikine  River,  the  outlet  of 
which  is  near  Fort  Wrangell.  These  diggings 
185 


186  KLONDIKE. 

are  still  carried  on,  and  they  have  yielded  much 
gold.  There  are  several  quartz  lodes  in  the  Cas- 
siar  district  which  are  rich,  but  hardly  rich 
enough  to  mine  profitably  with  the  present  inade- 
quate facilities  for  reaching  them  and  for  trans- 
porting machinery.  During  high  water  steam- 
boats can  run  well  up  the  river,  leaving  a  dis- 
tance of  forty  miles  between  Telegraph  Creek 
and  Aloose  Lake  to  be  traveled  by  pack  trains. 
The  Cassiar  diggings  are  far  less  accessible  than 
the  new  gold  fields. 

Now,  in  this  same  trend  or  general  direction, 
as  if  in  continuation  of  the  line  running  north- 
Vv^est  from  Caribou  through  the  Cassiar  range, 
come  the  diggings  near  the  place  where  the  Yu- 
kon River  crosses  the  boundary  between  Alaska 
and  British  North  America,  and  we  are  bound  to 
suppose  that  the  lode  runs  still  farther  along  to- 
ward the  northwest  into  the  country  which  is  not 
yet  prospected  at  all. 

Although  the  Klondike  is  on  the  Canadian  side 
of  the  boundary,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
the  great  bulk  of  the  gold  territory  is  west  of  the 
boundary  on  the  American  side.  This  is  to  be 
deduced  from  the  peculiar  locations  of  the 
streams  from  along  which  gold  has  thus  far  been 


OUR  NORTHWESTERN  POSSESSIONS.  187 

taken.  Sixty  Mile  Creek  and  Forty  Mile  Creek 
lie  largely  in  United  States  territory.  Both  flow 
into  the  Yukon  toward  the  east.  Birch  Creek 
flows  into  the  Yukon  toward  the  north  and  the 
Tenanah  River  toward  the  northwest.  The  Su- 
shitna  flows  toward  the  south  into  Cook's  Inlet, 
on  the  southern  coast,  where  gold  has  been  found. 
The  headwaters  of  all  these  gold-bearing-  streams 
flowing  in  different  directions  are  thus  seen  to  be 
in  the  same  country,  about  lOO  miles  west  of  the 
boundary  and  south  of  the  Yukon.  This  seems  to 
indicate  that  the  great  mother  lode  is  probably 
within  the  United  States  and  that  the  more  per- 
manent diggings  will  be  found  in  United  States 
territory  centering  about  a  spot  not  iioo  miles 
west  of  the  boundary. 

The  diggings  around  Klondike,  therefore,  are 
not  in  the  middle  of  the  richest  gold  territory, 
but  are  rather  on  the  northeast  edge.  Gold  has 
been  found  as  far  west  as  Cook's  Inlet  on  the 
southern  coast,  between  the  150th  and  I52d  de- 
grees west  longit'ude,  and  it  has  been  found  as  far 
east  as  the  128th  degree.  There  is  a  gold-bear- 
ing area  of  between  forty  thousand  and  fifty  thou- 
sand square  miles,  and  the  best  part  of  it  is  on 
the  United  States  side  of  the  boundary. 


188  KLONDIKE. 

Of  course,  our  actual  information  is  exceeding- 
ly limited.  Perhaps  we  know  less  about  the 
Alaskan  Territory  than  about  any  other  territory 
of  equal  size  on  the  continent.  The  Yukon  River 
has  been  explored  from  its  mouth  to  the  region 
of  the  gold  diggings,  and  the  trail  of  the  miners 
from  Chilkoot  Pass  to  the  diggings  has  given 
us  a  knowledge  of  that  region;  we  know  the 
mouths  of  the  streams  as  they  flow  into  the  Yu- 
kon; but  aside  from  these  we  have  learned  very 
little.  Travelers  and  prospectors  have  found  out 
more  or  less  by  interviewing  the  Indians,  who 
have  a  general  idea  of  direction  and  distance, 
but  this  knowledge  is  not  exact.  Even  our  most 
elaborate  maps  of  Alaska  depend  upon  miners' 
plottings  and  not  upon  official  surveys  for  the  lo- 
cation of  the  creeks  and  rivers  in  the  gold  region. 
What  other  information  we  have  of  the  interior 
has  been  acquired  largely  from  prospectors  and 
on  the  British  side  of  the  boundary  from  Can- 
adian explorers.  We  know  something  about  the 
streams  and  the  outlets,  but  we  have  not  discov- 
ered their  sources.  The  hill  country  is  practically 
unknown,  and  there  may  be  large  streams  con- 
cerning which  we  have  no  information.  There  is 
an  immense  stretch  of  territory  of  perhaps  250,- 


OUR  NORTHWESTERN  POSSESSIONS.         189 

cxx)  square  miles  of  which  we  are  practically  ig- 
norant. 

We  are  about  as  badly  off  with  regard  to  the 
coast  line.  The  southern  coast  we  know  fairly 
well  in  a  general  way,  but  there  has  never  been 
an  official  survey  beyond  Sitka.  Even  the  maps 
of  the  Aleutian  Islands  are  inherited  from  Russia, 
and  there  has  never  been  anything  like  a  survey 
of  the  mouth  of  the  Yukon  River.  It  would  be 
of  great  value,  now,  if  we  knew  whether  there 
was  a  channel  through  which  the  Yukon  could  be 
reached  from  Bering  Sea  by  deep  water  ships. 
We  are  aware  now  that  shoals  extend  out  for 
twenty-five  miles,  apparently  stretching  all  the 
way  across  the  mouth  of  the  Yukon,  but  there 
has  never  been  any  survey  to  discover  whether 
there  might  not  be  a  passage  through.  All  ships 
now,  owing  to  lack  of  knowledge  concerning 
these  shoals,  are  compelled  to  avoid  them  alto- 
gether by  going  to  St.  Michael,  thirty  miles  north 
of  the  mouth  of  the  river,  there  to  meet  the  river 
boats  which  are  obliged,  on  that  account,  to  make 
the  dangerous  trip  outside  on  the  ocean.  If  sea- 
going ships  could  be  brought  into  the  mouth  of 
the  Yukon  they  might  proceed  up  the  river  at 
least  to  as  great  a  distance  as  that  between  New 


190  KLONDIKE. 

Orleans  and  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  and 
possibly  they  ccAild  continue  the  journey  for  sev- 
eral hundred  miles.  There  should  be  an  early 
appropriation  for  a  survey  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Yukon.  There  should  also  be  a  survey  to  dis- 
cover whether  some  of  the  portages  between  the 
Yukon  at  different  points  and  Bering  Sea  might 
not  be  available  for  general  trafnc.  At  one  place 
not  far  from  St.  Michael  Island  the  Yukon  in  its 
windings  approaches  W'ithin  a  few  miles  of  the 
coast. 

It  is  peculiar  that  the  two  entrances  to  the 
gold  country  should  be,  one  through  the  head  of 
the  Yukon  River,  the  other  through  the  mouth. 
It  is  2000  miles  from  Sitka  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Yukon,  and  from  the  mouth  of  the  Yukon  to  the 
Klondike  is  about  the  same  distance,  for  the 
river  is  very  winding  throughout  its  course.  The 
route  by  sea,  which  takes  the  traveler  through 
Unimak  Pass,  separating  two  of  the  Aleutian  Is- 
lands, to  St.  Michael,  and  thence  by  river  boat  to 
his  destination,  will  be  used  largely  for  getting 
supplies  into  the  gold  country;  but  it  is  a  long 
journey,  and  steamers  going  up  the  Yukon  have 
to  wait  until  the  ice  leaves  the  river. 

For  miners  the  trails  leading  up  from  the  head- 


OUR  NORTHWESTERN  POSSESSIONS.  191 

waters  of  Lynn  Canal  will  be  more  convenient. 
There  are  four  entrances  into  the  gold  country 
from  the  coast  in  this  direction,  one  by  the  Taku 
River,  just  below  Juneau,  the  others  by  the 
White  Pass,  the  Chilkoot  Pass  and  the  Chilkat 
Pass.  Of  these  only  two,  the  Chilkoot  Pass  and 
the  White  Pass,  are  really  feasible,  and  the  Chil- 
koot Pass  is  so  much  the  better  of  the  two  that 
it  is  the  route  almost  exclusively  used.  It  is  su- 
perior to  the  others  because  it  has  a  shorter  dis- 
tance to  travel  and  is  not  so  rugged.  White 
Pass  is  rugged  throughout  its  entire  length,  and 
over  a  great  part  of  it  travelers  would  be  com- 
pelled to  go  on  their  hands  and  knees.  The 
route  by  the  Taku  River  is  very  rough  and  re- 
quires many  miles  of  packing.  The  Chilkat 
route  is  what  is  known  as  Jack  Dalton's  trail. 
Dalton  is  well  known  in  all  that  country.  He  was 
a  scout  for  Glaves,  who  was  the  first  white  man 
to  explore  the  region,  and  for  the  last  few  sum- 
mers he  has  been  engaged  in  carrying  whisky 
and  various  supplies  up  into  the  mining  camps. 
He  fits  out  at  Juneau,  with  his  nine  horses,  a 
white  man  and  two  Indians,  crosses  to  the  Chil- 
kat Inlet,  and  then  strikes  off  into  the  wilderness 
toward  the  headwaters  of  the  White  River.     No- 


192  KLONDIKE. 

body  else  knows  exactly  what  route  he  takes,  and 
he  will  not  tell. 

Lynn  Canal,  as  it  approaches  its  head,  divides 
into  two  branches,  Chilkat  Inlet  on  the  west  and 
Chilkoot  Inlet  on  the  east.  Chilkoot  Inlet  in 
turn  has  a  branch  known  as  Dyea  Inlet,  and  at 
the  head  of  Dyea  Inlet  is  a  small  Indian  village 
and  a  store  known  as  Healey's  store.  In  1894 
Healey's  store  was  the  only  house  in  the  place. 
It  acquires  its  importance  because  it  is  the  head 
of  navigation  and  the  last  base  of  supplies  for 
miners  before  striking  ofif  into  the  trail  for  the 
gold  country. 

If  a  railroad  is  ever  constructed  into  the  gold 
fields  it  will  probably  be  through  Chilkoot  Pass. 

The  natives  of  the  gold  country  in  the  interior 
are  known  as  Stick  Indians.  "Stick"  is  the  Chi- 
nook expression  for  wood,  and  the  Stick  Indian 
consequently  is  the  Indian  of  the  interior  or  for- 
est. He  is  quite  distinct  from  the  Chilkat  Indian 
on  the  coast.  He  is  short  of  stature,  but  stout, 
his  diminutiveness  being  due  to  the  hardships 
and  privations  which  he  has  been  compelled  to 
suffer  always.  But  physically  he  is  very  strong. 
He  can  carry  on  his  back  all  day  a  pack  which 
many  men  would  find  it  uncomfortable  to  lift. 


OUR  NORTHWESTERN  POSSESSIONS.         193 

There  are  marked  differences  between  the 
Chilkats  and  the  Sticks.  The  Chilkats  spend 
most  of  their  time  on  the  streams  and  use  canoes 
almost  exclusively.  They  do  very  little  tramp- 
ing. They  are  a  fine  race,  hardy  and  well 
formed.  The  Sticks  never  use  canoes.  Some  of 
them  have  little  dug-outs  in  the  streams  in  their 
own  country,  but  when  they  come  down  to  the 
coast,  as  they  come  occasionally  now,  they  are 
quite  lost. 

The  Stick  Indians  are  centered  around  the 
streams  of  Alaska,  and  have  to  keep  pretty  near 
to  the  main  stream  in  order  to  get  their  food. 
Until  very  recently  they  have  never  dared  to 
come  down  below  the  Chilkat  Pass,  so  complete- 
ly were  they  terrorized  by  the  Chilkat  Indians. 
The  Chilkats  have  had  absolute  control  of  the 
country  along  the  coast,  so  much  so  that  they 
were  able  to  collect  toll  from  the  miners  who 
first  went  through  the  Cliilkoot  Pass.  When  the 
Russians  were  in  possession  of  Cliilkoot  the 
Chilkats  were  a  kind  of  middlemen  between  the 
Russian  traders  and  the  Indians  of  the  interior. 
Indeed,  these  peculiar  relations  seem  to  have  had 
a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  drawing  of  the  boun- 
dary line  between  British  America  and  Russian 
13 


194  KLONDIKE. 

America.  The  idea  of  Russia  was  to  continue 
the  line  of  demarkation  between  the  trading  set- 
tlements of  the  coast  and  the  Indian  settlements 
of  the  interior,  so  that  this  line  is  really  not  a 
geographical  line,  but  is  intended  rather  to  mark 
the  extent  of  the  control  of  the  Indians  of  the 
coast;  that  is,  to  the  summit  of  the  mountain 
ranges  extending  from  Portland  Canal  north  to 
Mount  St.  Elias,  beyond  which  the  Sticks  never 
dared  to  come. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


LAWS  GOVERNING  THE  LOCATION 

OF  CLAIMS. 

It  is  important  to  know  something  about  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  and  of  Canada  which 
govern  the  patenting  of  mineral  lands  and  which 
must  be  observed  in  locating  claims.  The  pub- 
lic land  laws  of  the  United  States  do  not  apply 
to  Alaska,  and  neither  do  the  coal  land  regula- 
tions, which  are  distinct  from  the  mineral  regu- 
lations.   The  Territory  of  Alaska  is  expressly  ex- 


LAWS  GOVERNING  LOCATION  OF  CLAIMS.   195 

eluded  from  the  operations  of  the  public  land 
and  coal  land  laws  by  provisions  of  the  laws 
themselves.  Mineral  lands  have  been  patented 
in  Alaska  since  1884.  Hon.  Binger  Hermann, 
Commissioner  of  the  United  States  General 
Land  Office,  has  authorized  the  statement  that 
the  following  laws  are  applicable  to  the  Terri- 
tory • 

First — The  mineral  land  laws  of  the  United 
States. 

Second — Town-site  laws,  which  provide  for  the 
incorporation  of  town  sites  and  acquirement  of 
title  thereto  from  the  United  States  Government 
by  the  town-site  trustees. 

Third — The  laws  providing  for  trade  and  man- 
ufact'Ures,  giving  each  qualified  person  160  acres 
of  land  in  a  square  and  compact  form. 

The  act  approved  May  17,  1884,  providing  a 
civil  government  for  Alaska,  has  this  language 
as  to  mines  and  mining  privileges: 

"The  laws  of  the  United  States  relating  to 
mining  claims  and  rights  incidental  thereto  shall, 
on  and  after  the  passage  of  this  act,  be  in  full 
force  and  effect  in  said  district  of  Alaska,  sub- 
ject to  such  regulations  as  may  be  made  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  and  approved  by  the 
President." 


196  KLONDIKE. 

"Parties  who  have  located  mines  or  mining 
privileges  therein,  under  the  United  States  laws 
applicable  to  the  public  domain,  or  have  occupied 
or  improved  or  exercised  acts  of  ownership  over 
such  claims,  shall  not  Be  disturbed  therein,  but 
shall  bo  allowed  to  perfect  title  by  payment  so 
pro\ided  for." 

There  is  still  more  general  authority.  Without 
the  special  authority,  the  act  of  July  4,  1866, 
says:  "All  valuable  mineral  deposits  in  lands  be- 
longing to  the  United  States,  both  surveyed  and 
unsurveyed,  are  hereby  declared  to  be  free  and 
open  to  exploration  and  purchase,  and  lands  in 
which  these  are  found  to  occupation  and  pur- 
chase by  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  by 
those  who  have  declared  an  intention  to  become 
such,  under  the  rules  prescribed  by  law  and-  ac- 
cording to  local  customs  or  rules  of  miners  in  the 
several  mining  districts,  so  far  as  the  same  are 
applicable  and  not  inconsistent  with  the  laws  of 
the  United  States." 

Under  United  States  laws  only  those  who  are 
citizens  or  who  have  declared  intention  to  be- 
come citizens  may  locate  or  buy  claims.  There 
are  no  "free  miners."  The  government  cannot 
give  the  right  to  mine  except  in  public  lands. 


LAWS  GOVERNING  LOCATION  OF  CLAIMS.   197 

and  these  must  contain  valuable  mineral  depos- 
its. A  claim  may  not  exceed  beyond  1500  feet 
along  a  vein  or  300  feet  on  each  side  of  the  mid- 
dle of  the  vein.  A  person  may  locate  a  claim 
through  an  agent;  $100  worth  of  work  must  be 
done  each  year.  Local  government  prevails  in 
the  various  mining  districts  of  the  United  States, 
each  district  being  free  to  manage  its  own  affairs 
so  long  as  it  does  not  do  anything  inconsistent 
with  the  national  laws. 

Mining  operations  on  the  Klondike  on  the 
British  side  of  the  boundary  are  subject,  not  to 
the  regulations  of  the  Province  of  British  Col- 
umbia, but  to  the  general  mining  laws  of  the 
Dominion  of  Canada. 

As  soon  as  the  mounted  police  force  has  been 
raised  to  100  men  from  the  20  men  now  keeping 
order  in  the  country,  it  will  be  considered  safe  to 
promulgate  the  new  regulations  for  placer  gold 
mining.  These  provide  that  every  alternate 
claim  is  to  be  reserved  by  the  crown  for  the  pub- 
lic benefit,  and  that  the  royalty  to  the  crown  is  to 
be  10  per  cent,  on  the  yield  up  to  $500  a  month 
and  20  per  cent  over  $500  a  month. 

A  difficulty  with  respect  to  the  alternate 
claims    is    that    the    placer  territory  is  already 


198  KLONDIKE. 

staked  solid  by  prospectors,  so  far  as  they  have 
gone.  Turning  out  the  prospectors  on  every 
ahernate  claim  is  not  likely  to  prove  a  pleasant 
proceeding.  Many  have  staked  without  regis- 
tering and  those  only  who  have  registered  are 
safe.  The  registering  has  been  raised  from  $5 
to  $15  in  each  case,  with  an  annual  tax  of  $100. 

The  miners'  tax  applies  to  all  alike,  and  will 
not  be  levied  so  as  to  discriminate  against  Amer- 
icans. It  will  be  almost  impossible  to  collect 
more  than  a  small  proportion.  As  regards  its 
effects  on  the  Canadian  miners,  it  will  undoubt- 
edly drive  the  majority  of  them,  as  soon  as  they 
have  made  their  pile,  to  take  it  to  the  United 
States  to  evade  full  assessment.  How  much  of 
the  royalties  will  ever  find  their  way  to  Canada 
is  a  question. 

A  digest  of  the  Dominion  mining  laws  is  given 
below: 

PLACER  MINING. 

Nature  and  Size  of  Claims — For  "Bar  Dig- 
gings:" A  strip  of  land  100  feet  wide  at  high- 
water  mark  and  thence  extending  into  the  river 
at  its  lowest  water  level. 

For  "Dry  Diggings:"  One  hundred  feet 
square. 


LAWS  GOVERNING  LOCATION  OF  CLAIMS.  199 

For  "Creek  and  River  Claims:"  Five  hundred 
feet  along  the  direction  of  the  stream,  extend- 
ing in  width  from  base  to  base  of  the  hill  or 
bench  on  either  side.  The  width  of  such  claims, 
however,  is  limited  to  600  feet  when  the  benches 
are  a  greater  distance  apart  than  that.  In  such 
a  case  claims  are  laid  out  in  areas  of  ten  acres 
with  boundaries  running  north  and  south,  east 
and  west. 

For  "Bench  Claims:"  One  hundred  feet 
square. 

Size  of  claims  to  discoverers  or  parties  of  dis- 
coverers : 

To  one  discoverer,  300  feet  in  length;  to  a 
party  of  two,  600  feet  in  length;  to  a  party  of 
three  800  feet  in  length;  to  a  party  of  four,  1000 
feet  in  length;  to  a  party  of  more  than  four,  or- 
dinary sized  claim  only. 

New  strata  of  auriferous  gravel  in  a  locality 
where  claims  are  abandoned,  or  dry  diggings 
discovered  in  the  vicinity  of  bar  diggings,  or  vice 
versa,  shall  be  deemed  new  mines. 

Plights  and  Duties  of  Miners — Entries  of 
grants  for  placer  mining  must  be  renewed  and 
entry  fee  be  paid  every  year. 

No  miner  shall  receive  more  than  one  claim 


200  KLONDIKE. 

in  the  same  locality,  but  may  hold  any  number 
oi  claims  by  purchase,  and  any  number  of  miners 
may  unite  to  work  their  claims  in  common,  pro- 
vided an  agreement  be  duly  registered  and  a 
registration  fee  of  $5  be  duly  paid  therefor. 

Claims  may  be  mortgaged  or  disposed  of  pro- 
vided such  disposal  be  registered  and  a  registra- 
tion fee  of  $2  be  paid  therefor. 

Although  miners  shall  have  exclusive  right  of 
entry  upon  their  claims  for  the  "miner-like" 
working  of  them,  holders  of  adjacent  claims 
shall  b<.  granted  such  right  of  entry  thereon  as 
may  seem  reasonable  to  the  superintendent  of 
mines. 

Each  miner  shall  be  entitled  to  so  much  of  the 
water  not  previously  appropriated  flowing 
through  or  past  his  claim  as  the  superintendent 
of  mnies  shall  deem  necessar}^  to  work  it,  and 
shall  be  entitled  to  drain  his  own  claim  free  of 
charge. 

Claims  remaining  unworked  on  working  days 
for  seventy-two  hours  are  deemed  abandoned, 
unless  sickness  or  other  reasonable  cause  is 
shown  or  unless  the  grantee  is  absent  on  leave. 

For  the  convenience  of  miners  on  back  claims, 
on  benches  or  slopes,  permission  may  be  granted 


LAWS  GOVERNING  LOCATION  OF  CLAIMS.  201 

by  the  superintendent  of  mines  to  tunnel  through 
claims  fronting  on  water  courses. 

In  case  of  death  of  a  miner  the  provisions  of 
abandonment  do  not  apply  during  his  last  ill- 
ness after  his  decease. 

Acquisition  of  Mining  Locations — Marking 
of  Locations:  Wooden  posts,  four  inches  square, 
driven  eighteen  inches  into  the  ground  and  pro- 
jecting eighteen  inches  above,  must  mark  the 
four  corners  of  a  location.  In  rocky  ground, 
stone  mounds  three  feet  in  diameter  may  be  piled 
about  the  post.  In  timbered  land  well-blazed 
lines  must  join  the  posts.  In  rolling  or  uneven 
localities,  flattened  posts  must  be  placed  at  in- 
tervals along  the  lines  to  mark  them,  so  that 
subsequent  explorers  shall  have  no  trouble  in 
tracing  such  lines. 

When  locations  are  bounded  by  lines  running 
north  and  south,  east  and  west,  the  stake  at  the 
northeast  corner  shall  be  marked  by  a  cutting  in- 
strument or  by  colored  chalk,  "M.  L.,  No.  i" 
(mining  location,  stake  No.  i.)  Likewise  the 
southeasterly  stake  shall  be  marked  "M.  L.,  No. 
2,"  the  southwesterly  "M.  L.,  No.  3,"  and  the 
northwesterly  "M.  L.,  No.  4."  Where  the 
boundary  lines  do  not  run  north  and  south,  east 


202  KLONDIKE. 

and  west,  the  northerly  stake  shall  be  marked 
I,  the  easterly  2,  the  southerly  3  and  the  westerly 
4.  On  each  post  shall  be  marked  also  the  claim- 
ant's initials  and  the  distance  to  the  next  post. 

Application  and  Affidavit  of  Discoverer:  With- 
in sixty  days  after  marking  his  location,  the 
clanriant  shall  file  in  the  office  of  the  Dominion 
Land  office  for  the  district  a  formal  declaration, 
sworn  to  before  the  land  agent,  describing  as 
nearly  as  may  be  the  locality  and  dimensions  of 
the  location.  With  such  declaration  he  must 
pay  the  agent  an  entry  fee  of  $5. 

Receipt  Issued  to  Discoverer:  Upon  such  pay- 
ment the  agent  shall  grant  a  receipt  authorizing 
the  clai:nant,  or  his  legal  representative,  to  enter 
into  possession,  subject  to  renewal  every  year, 
for  five  years,  provided  that  in  these  five  years 
Sioo  shall  be  expended  on  the  claim  in  actual 
m.ining  operations.  A  detailed  statement  of  such 
expenditure  must  also  be  filed  with  the  agent  of 
the  Dominion  lands,  in  the  form  of  an  affidavit 
corroborated  by  two  reliable  and  disinterested 
witnesses. 

Annual  Renewal  of  Location  Certificate:  Upon 
payment  of  the  $5  fee  therefor,  a  receipt  shall  be 
issued  entitling  the  claimant  to  hold  the  location 
for  another  year. 


LAWS  GOVERNING  LOCATION  OF  CLAIMS.  20S 

Working  in  Partnership:  Any  party  of  four  or 
less  neighboring  miners,  within  three  months 
after  entering,  may,  upon  being  authorized  by 
the  agent,  make  upon  any  one  of  such  locations, 
during  the  first  and  second  years,  but  not  subse- 
quently the  expenditure  otherwise  required  on 
each  of  the  locations.  An  agreement,  however, 
accompanied  by  a  fee  of  $5,  must  be  filed  with 
the  agent.  Provided,  however,  that  the  expendi- 
ture made  upon  any  one  location  shall  not  be 
applicable  in  any  manner  or  for  any  purpose  to 
any  other  location. 

Purchase  of  Location:  At  any  time  before  the 
expiration  of  five  years  from  date  of  entry  a 
claimant  may  purchase  a  location  upon  filing 
with  the  agent  proof  that  he  has  expended  $500 
in  actual  mining  operations  on  the  claim  and 
complied  with  all  other  prescribed  regulations. 
The  price  of  a  mining  location  shall  be  $5  per 
acre,  cash. 

On  making  an  application  to  purchase,  the 
claimant  must  deposit  with  the  agent  $50,  to  be 
deemed  as  payment  to  the  government  for  the 
survey  of  his  location.  On  receipt  of  plans  and 
field  notes  and  approval  by  the  Surveyor-General, 
a  patent  shall  issue  to  the  claimant. 


204  KLONDIKE. 

Revision  of  Title:  Failure  of  a  claimant  to 
prove  within  each  year  the  expenditure  pre- 
scribed, or  failure  to  pay  the  agent  the  full  cash 
price,  shall  cause  the  claimant's  right  lo  lapse 
and  the  location  to  revert  to  the  crown,  along 
with  the  improvements  upon  it. 

Rival  Claimants:  When  two  or  more  persons 
claim  the  same  location  the  right  to  acquire  it 
shall  be  in  him  who  can  prove  he  was  the  first  to 
discover  the  mineral  deposit,  and  to  take  posses- 
sion in  the  prescribed  manner.  Priority  of  dis- 
covery alone,  shall  not  g^ve  the  right  to  acquire. 
A  subsequent  discoverer,  who  has  complied  with 
other  prescribed  conditions,  shall  take  prece- 
dence over  a  prior  discoverer  who  has  failed  so 
to  comply. 

When  a  claimant  has,  in  bad  faith,  used  the 
prior  discovery  of  another  and  has  fraudulently 
affirmed  that  he  made  independent  discovery 
and  demarcation,  he  shall,  apart  from  other  legal 
consequences,  have  no  claim,  forfeit  his  deposit 
and  be  absolutely  debarred  from  obtaining  an- 
other location. 

Rival  Applicants:  Where  there  are  two  or 
more  applicants  for  a  mining  location,  neither 
of  whom  is  the  original  discoverer,  the  Minister 


LAWS  GOVERNING  LOCATION  OF  CLAIMS.  205 

of  the  Interior  may  invite  competitive  tenders  or 
put  it  up  for  auction,  as  he  sees  fit. 

Transfer  of  Mining  Rights — Assignment  of 
Right  to  Purchase:  An  assignment  of  the  right 
to  purchase  a  location  shall  be  indorsed  on  the 
back  of  the  receipt  or  certificate  of  assignment, 
and  execution  thereof  witnessed  by  two  disinter- 
ested whnesses.  Upon  the  deposit  of  such  re- 
ceipt in  the  office  of  the  land  agent,  accompanied 
by  a  registration  fee  of  $2,  the  agent  shall  give 
the' assignee  a  certificate  entitling  him  to  all  the 
rights  of  the  original  discoverer.  By  comply- 
ing with  the  prescribed  regulations  such  as- 
signee becomes  entitled  to  purchase  the  loca- 
tion. 

QUARTZ  MINING. 

Regulations  in  respect  to  placer  mining,  so  far 
as  they  relate  to  entries,  entry  fees,  assignments, 
marking  of  locations,  agents'  receipts,  etc.,  ex- 
cept where  otherwise  provided,  apply  also  to 
quartz  mining. 

Nature  and  Size  of  Claims — A  location  shall 
not  exceed  the  following  dimensions:  Length. 
1500  feet;  breadth,  600  feet.  The  surface  bound- 
aries shall  be  from  straight  parallel  lines,  and  its 
boundaries  beneath  the  surface  the  planes  of 
these  lines. 


206  KLONDIKE. 

Limit  of  Number  of  Locations — Not  more 
than  one  mining  location  shall  be  granted  to  any 
one  individual  claimant  «pon  the  same  lode  or 
vein. 

Mill  Sites — Land  used  for  milling  purposes 
may  be  applied  for  and  patented,  either  in  con- 
nection with  or  separate  from  a  mining  loca- 
tion, and  may  be  held  in  addition  to  a  mining  lo- 
cation, provided  such  additional  land  shall  in  no 
case  exceed  five  acres. 

GENERAL  PROVISIONS. 

Decision  of  Disputes — The  superintendent  of 
mines  shall  have  power  to  hear  and  determine 
all  disputes  in  regard  to  mining  property  arising 
within  his  district,  subject  to  appeal  by  either 
of  the  parties  to  the  Commisisoner  of  Dominion 
Lands. 

Leave  of  Absence — Each  holder  of  a  mining 
location  shall  be  entitled  to  be  absent  and  sus- 
pend work  on  his  diggings  during  the  "close" 
season,  which  "close"  season  shall  be  declared 
by  the  agent  in  each  district,  under  instructions 
from  the  Minister  of  the  Interior. 

The  agent  may  grant  a  leave  of  absence  pend- 
ing the  decision  of  any  dispute  before  him. 


LAWS  GOVERNING  LOCATION  OF  CLAIMS.   207 

Any  miner  is  entitled  to  a  year's  leave  of  ab- 
sence upon  proving  expenditure  of  not  less  than 
$200  without  any  reasonable  return  of  gold. 

The  time  occupied  by  a  locator  in  going  to  and 
returning  from  the  office  of  the  agent  or  of  the 
superintendent  of  mines  shall  not  count  against 
him. 

Additional  Locations — The  Minister  of  the  In- 
terior may  grant  to  a  person  actually  developing 
a  location  an  adjoining  location  equal  in  size, 
provided  it  be  shown  to  the  Minister's  satisfac- 
tion that  the  vein  worked  will  probably  extend 
beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  original  location. 
Forfeiture — In  event  of  the  breach  of  the  regula- 
tions, a  right  or  grant  shall  be  absolutely  for- 
feited, and  the  offending  party  shall  be  incapable 
of  subsequently  acquiring  similar  rights,  except 
by  special  permission  of  the  Minister  of  the  In- 
terior. 


208  KLONDIKE. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 


CLIMATE  OF  ALASKA. 

Willis  L.  Moore,  chief  of  the  United  States 
Weather  B«reau,  has  prepared  a  valuable  and 
interesting  report  on  the  climate  of  Alaska.  "The 
climates  of  the  coast  and  the  interior,"  he  says, 
"are  unlike  in  many  respects,  and  the  differences 
are  intensified  in  this,  as  perhaps  in  few  other 
countries,  by  exceptional  physical  conditions. 
The  natural  contrast  between  land  and  sea  is 
here  tremendously  increased  by  the  current  of 
warm  water  that  impinges  on  the  coast  of  British 
Columbia,  one  branch  flowing  northward  toward 
Sitka,  and  thence  westward  to  the  Kadiak  and 
Shumagin  Islands. 

"The  fringe  of  islands  that  separates  the  main- 
land from  the  Pacific  Ocean  from  Dixon  Sound 
northward  and  also  a  strip  of  the  mainland  for 
possibly  twenty  miles  back  from  the  sea,  follow- 
ing the  sweep  of  the  coast,  as  it  curves  to  the 
northwestward  to  the  western  extremity  of 
Alaska,  form  a  distinct  climate  division,  which 


CLIMATE  OF  ALASKA.  209 

may  be  termed  temperate  Alaska.  The  tempera- 
ture rarely  falls  to  zero;  winter  does  not  set  in 
until  December  i,  and  by  the  last  of  May  the 
snow  has  disappeared  except  on  the  mountains. 
The  mean  winter  temperature  of  Sitka  is  32.5, 
but  little  less  than  that  of  Washington,  D.  C. 
While  Sitka  is  fully  exposed  to  the  sea  influence, 
places  further  inland,  but  not  over  the  coast 
rang-e  of  mountains,  as  Killisnoo  and  Juneau, 
have  also  mild  temperatures  throughout  the 
winter  months.  The  temperature  changes  from 
month  to  month  in  temperate  Alaska  are  small, 
not  exceeding  twenty-five  degrees  from  midwin- 
ter to  midsummer.  The  average  temperature 
of  July,  the  warmest  month  of  summer,  rarely 
reaches  55  degrees,  and  the  highest  temperature 
of  a  single  day  seldom  reaches  75  degrees. 

"The  rainfall  of  Temperate  Alaska  is  notori- 
ous the  world  over,  not  only  as  regards  the 
quantity  that  falls,  but  also  as  to  the  manner  of 
its  falling,  viz.,  in  long  and  incessant  rains  and 
drizzles.  Cloud  and  fog  naturally  abound,  there 
being  on  an  average  but  sixty-six  clear  days  in 
the  year. 

''Alaska  is  a  land  of  striking  contrasts,  both 
in  climatp.  «is  well  as  topography.  When  the  sun 
U 


210  KLONDIKE. 

shines  the  atmosphere  is  remarkably  clear,  the 
scenic  effects  are  magnificent;  all  nature  seems 
to  be  in  holiday  attire.  But  the  scene  may 
change  very  quickly;  the  sky  becomes  overcast; 
the  winds  increase  in  force;  rain  begins  to  fall; 
the  evergreens  sigh  ominously,  and  utter  deso- 
lation and  loneliness  prevail. 

"North  of  the  Aleutian  Islands  the  coast  climate 
becomes  more  rigorous  in  winter,  but  in  summer 
the  difference  is  much  less  marked.  Thus,  at 
St.  Michael,  a  short  distance  north  of  the  mouth 
of  the  Yukon,  the  mean  summer  temperature  is 
50  degrees,  but  four  degrees  cooler  than  Sitka. 
The  mean  summer  temperature  of  Point  Barrow, 
the  most  northerly  point  in  the  United  States, 
is  36.8  degrees,  but  four-tenths  of  a  degree  less 
than  the  temperature  of  the  air  flowing  across  the 
summit  of  Pike's  Peak,  Col. 

"The  rainfall  of  the  coast  region  north  of  the 
Yukon  delta  is  small,  diminishing  to  less  than  ten 
inches  within  the  arctic  circle. 

"The  climate  of  the  interior,  including  in  that 
designation  practically  all  of  the  country  except 
a  narrow  fringe  of  coastal  margin  and  the  terri- 
tory before  referred  to  as  temperate  Alaska,  is 
one  of  extreme  rigor  in  winter,  with  a  brief,  but 


CLIMATE  OF  ALASKA.  211 

relatively  hot,  summer,  especially  when  the  sky 
is  free  from  clouds. 

"In  the  Klondike  region  in  midwinter  the  sun 
rises  from  9.30  to  10  A.  M.,  and  sets  from  2  to  3 
P.  M.,  the  total  length  of  daylight  being  about 
four  hours.  Remembering  that  the  sun  rises  but 
a  few  degrees  above  the  horizon,  and  that  it  is 
wholly  obscured  on  a  great  many  days,  the 
character  of  the  winter  months  may  easily  be 
imagined. 

"We  are  indebted  to  the  United  States  Coast 
and  Geodetic  Survey  for  a  series  of  six  months' 
observations  on  the  Yukon,  not  far  from  the  site 
of  the  present  gold  discoveries.  The  observa- 
tions were  made  with  standard  instruments,  and 
are  wholly  reliable.  The  mean  temperature  of 
the  months  October,  1889,  to  April,  1890,  both 
inclusive,  are  as  follows:  October,  33  degrees; 
November,  8  degrees;  December,  11  degrees  be- 
low zero;  January,  17  degrees  below  zero;,  Feb- 
ruary, 15  degrees  below  zero;  March  6  degrees 
above  zero;  April  20  degrees  above.  The  daily 
mean  temperature  fell  and  remained  below  the 
freezing  point  (32),  from  November  4,  1889,  to 
April  21,  1890,  thus  giving  168  days  as  the  length 
of  the  closed  season  of  1889-90,  assuming  the 


212  KLONDIKE. 

outdoor  operations  are  controlled  by  temperature 
only. 

The  lowest  temperature  registered  during  the 
winter  were:  32  degrees  below  zero  in  Novem- 
ber, 47  below  in  December,  59  below  in  January, 
55  below  in  February,  45  below  in  March,  26  be- 
low in  April. 

"The  greatest  continuous  cold  occurred  in 
February,  1890,  when  the  daily  mean  for  five 
consecutive  days  was  47  degrees  below  zero. 
The  weather  moderated  slightly  about  the  ist  of 
March,  but  the  temperature  still  remained  be- 
low the  freezing  point.  Generally  cloudy  weath- 
er prevailed,  there  being  but  three  consecutive 
days  in  any  month  with  clear  weather  during  the 
whole  winter.  Snow  fell  on  about  one-third  of 
the  days  in  winter,  and  a  less  number  in  the  early 
spring  and  late  fall  months. 

"Greater  cold  than  that  here  noted  has  been 
experienced  in  the  United  States  for  a  very  short 
time,  but  never  has  it  continued  so  very  cold 
for  so  long  a  time.  In  the  interior  of  Alaska 
the  winter  sets  in  as  early  as  September,  when 
snow  storms  may  be  expected  in  the  mountains 
and  passes.  Headway  during  one  of  these 
storms  is  impossible,  and  the  traveler  who   is 


CLIMATE  OF  ALASKA.  213 

overtaken  by  one  of  them  is  indeed  fortunate 
if  he  escapes  with  his  Hfe.  Snow  storms  of  great 
severity  may  occur  in  any  month  from  Septem- 
ber to  May,  inclusive. 

"The  changes  of  temperature  from  winter  to 
summer  are  rapid,  owing  to  the  great  increase 
in  the  length  of  the  day.  In  May  the  sun  rises 
at  about  3  A.  M.  and  sets  about  9  P.  M.  In  June 
it  rises  about  1.30  in  the  morning  and  sets  at 
10.30,  giving  about  twenty  hours  of  dayhght  and 
diffused  twilight  the  remainder  of  the  time. 

"The  mean  summer  temperature  of  the  inte- 
rior doubtless  ranges  between  60  and  70  degrees, 
according  to  elevation,  being  highest  in  the  mid- 
dle and  lower  Yukon  Valleys." 


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STANDARD  AUTHORS. 

Cloth,  Twelve  Mo.  Size,  s^-X  x  7^^  Inches.     Each  ;^i,oo, 


TALES  FROM  SHAKESPEARE,  by  Charles  and  Mary 
Lamb,  with  15=;  illustrations  by  famous  artists. 

PAUL  AND  VIRGINIA,  by  i::ernardin  de  St.  Pierre,  with 
125  engravings  by  Maurice  Leioir. 

ALICE'S  ADVENTURES  IN  WONDERLAND,  AND 
THROUGH  THE  LOOKING  GLASS  AND 
WHAT  ALICE  FOUND  THERE,  by  l.e-*  is 
Carroll.  Complete  in  one  volume  with  92  engravings 
by  John  Tenniel. 

LUCILE,  by  Owen  Meredith,  with  numerous  illustrations  by 
George  I^u  Maurier. 

BLACK  BEAUTY,  by  Anna  Sewell,  with  nearly  50  original 
engravings. 

SCARLET  LETTER,  by  Nathaniel  Hawihome,  with  numer- 
ous original  full-page  and  text  illustrations. 

THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  SEVEN  GABLES,  by  Nathaniel 
Hawthorne,  with  numerous  original  full-page  and  text 
illustrations. 

BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE, 
by  Prescott  Holmes,  with  7'>  illustrstions. 

BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR  FOR  THE  UNION,  by 
I'rescoit  Holmes,  with  So  iilus^ratlons. 


HENRY  ALTEMUS'  PUBLICATIONS. 


ALTEMUS' YOUNG  PEOPLES'  LIBRARY 

PRICE  FIFTY  CENTS  EACH. 


ROBINSON  CRUSOE:  (Chiefly  in  words  of  one  syllable). 
His  iifc  iud  ktrange,  surprising  adventures,  with  70 
beautiful  illustrations  by  Walter  Paget. 

ALICE'S  ADVENTURES  IN  WONDERLAND,  with 

42  iliuslrations  by  John  Tennicl.  "  1  he  most  delightful 
of  children's  stories.  Elegant  and  delicious  nonsense." 
—Saturday  Kex'ie'jj. 

THROUGH  THE  LOOKING-GLASS  AND  WHAT 
ALICE  FOUND  THERE;  a  companion  to  '  Alice 
in  Wonderland,"  with  50  illustrations  by  John  Tenniel. 

BUNYAN'S  PILGRIM'S  PROGRESS,  with  50  ftill  page 
and  text  illustrations. 

A  CHILD'S  STORY  OF  THE  BIBLE,  with  72  full  page 
illustrations. 

A  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST,  with  49  illustrations. 
God  has  implanted  in  tlie  iyifant  heart  a  desire  to  hear 
of  Jesus,  and  children  are  early  attracted  and  sweeily 
riveted  by  the  wonderful  Story  of  the  Master  from  the 
Manger  to  the  Throne. 

SWISS  FAMILY  ROBINSON,  with  50  illustrations  The 
father  of  the  family  tells  the  tale  of  the  vicissitudes 
througii  wliich  he  and  his  wife  and  children  pass,  the 
wonderful  discoveries  made  and  dangers  encountered. 
The  book  is  full  of  interest  and  instruction. 

CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS  AND  THE  DISCOV- 
ERY OF  AMERICA,  with  7  ilhi.-ir  .tions  livery 
American  boy  and  girl  should  be  acquainted  with  the 
story  of  the  life  of  the  great  discoverer,  with  its  strug- 
gles, adventures, and  trials. 

THE  STORY  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  DISCOVERY 
IN  AFRICA,  with  80  illustrations  Records  the  ex- 
periences of  adventures  and  discoveries  in  developing 
the  "  Dark  Continent,"  from  the  early  d  lys  of  Bruce 
and  Mungo  fark  down  to  Livingstone  and  Stanley, 
and  the  heroes  of  our  own  times.  No  present  can  be 
more  acceptable  than  such  a  volume  as  this,  where 
courage,  intrepidity,  resource,  and  devotion  are  so 
adnuiabiy  mingled. 


HENRY  ALTEMUS'  PUBLICATIONS. 


Altemus'  Young  Peoples'  Library— continued. 


THE  FABLES  OF  /ESOP.  Compiled  from  the  best 
accepted  sources.  With  62  illustrations.  The  fables  of 
A^sop  are  among  the  very  e..riiest  compositions  of  this 
kind,  and  probably  have  never  been  surpassed  for  point 
and  brevity. 

GULLIVER'S  TRAVELS.  Adapted  for  young  readers. 
NVith  50  illustrations. 

MOTHER  GOOSE'S  RHYMES,  JINGLES  AND 
FAIRY  TALES,  with  154  illustrations. 

LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES,  by  Presrott  Holmes.  Wiih  portraits  of 
the  Presidents  and  alfo  of  the  unsuccesbfiil  candidates 
for  the  office  ;  as  well  as  the  ablest  of  the  Cabinet  offi- 
cers. It  is  jii;>t  the  book  for  intelligent  boys,  and  it 
will  help  to  make  them  intelligent  and  p.itriotic  citizens. 

THE  STORY  OF  ADVENTURE  IN  THE  FROZEN 
SEAS,  wiih  70  illustrations.  By  Prescott  Holmes. 
We  have  here  brought  together  the  records  of  the 
attempts  to  reach  the  Norih  Pole.  The  book  shows 
how  much  can  be  accompli.ihed  by  steady  perseverance 
and  indomitable  pluck. 

ILLUSTRATED  NATURAL  HISTORY,  bv  tbe  Rev.  J. 

G.  Wood,  with  G  .  illustrations.  This  autnor  has  done 
more  to  popularize  the  study  of  natural  history  than 
any  other  writer.  The  illustrations  are  striking  and 
lifelike. 

A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND,  by  Charles 
Dickens,  with  50  illustrations.  Tired  of  listening'  to 
his  children  memorize  the  twaddle  of  old  fashioned 
English  history  the  author  covered  the  ground  in  his 
own  peculiar  and  happy  style  for  his  own  children's 
•jse  When  the  work  was  published  its  success  was 
instantaneous. 

BLACK  BEAUTY,  THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  A 
HORSE,  by  Anna  Sewell,  with  50  illustr.ntions.  A 
work  sure  to  educate  boys  and  giris  to  treat  with  kind- 
ness all  members  of  the  animal  kingdom.  Recognized 
as  the  greatest  story  of  animal  life  e.xtant. 

THE     ARABIAN     NIGHTS     ENTERTAINMENTS, 

with  130  illistrations.  Contains  the  most  favorably 
known  of  the  stories. 


HENRY  ALTEMUS'  PUBLICATIONS. 


ALTEMUS'  DEVOTIONAL  SERIES. 


Standard  Religious  Literature  Appropriately  Bound  in 

Handy  Volume  Size.      Each  Volume  contains 

Illuminated  Title,  Portrait  of  Author 

and  Appropriate  Illustrations. 


WHITE  VELLUM,  SILVER  AND  MONOTINT. 
BOXED,  EACH  FIFTY  CENTS. 


1  KEPT  FOR  THE  MASTER'S  USE,  by  Frances  Ridley 

Havergal.     "  Will  perpetuate  her  name." 

2  MV    KING    AND     HIS     SERVICE,    OR     DAILY 

THOUGHTS  FOR  THE  KING'S  CHILDREN, 

by  Frances  Ridley  Havergal.  "  Simple,  tender,  gentle, 
and  lull  of  Christian  love." 

3  MY  POINT  OF  VIEW.     Selections  from  the  works  of 

Professor  Henry  Drummond. 

4  OF  THE    IMITATION    OF   CHRIST,   by    Thomas 

A  Rempis.  "  With  the  exception  of  the  Kible  it  is 
probably  the  book  most  read  in  Christian  literature." 

5  ADDRESSES,  by  Professor  Henry  Drummond.    "Intel- 

ligent sympathy  with  the  Christian's  need." 

6  NATURAL  LAW  IN  THE  SPIRITUAL  WORLD, 

by  Professor  Henry  Drummond.  "  A  most  notable 
book  which  has  earned  for  the  author  a  wond-wide 
reputation." 

7  ADDRESSES,   by   the    Rev.    Phillips   Brooks.      "Has 

exerted  a  marked  influence  over  the  rising  generation." 

8  ABIDE  IN  CHRIST.     Thoughts  on  the  Blessed  Life  of 

Fellowship  with  the  Son  of  God.  By  the  Rev.  Andrew 
Murray.  It  cannot  fail  to  stimulate  and  cheer, — 
S^urg-eon. 

9  LIKE  CHRIST.     Thoughts  on  the  Blessed  Life  of  Con- 

formity to  tiie  Son  of  God.  By  the  Rev.  Andrew 
Murray.  A  seqiifl  to  "  Abide  in  Christ."  "May  be 
read  with  comtbrt  and  edification  by  all." 

10    WITH  CHRIST  IN  THE  SCHOOL  OF  PRAYER, 

by  the  Rev  Andrew  Murray.  "The  best  work  on 
prayer  in  the  language." 


HENRY  ALTEMUS'  PUBLICATIONS. 

II  HOLY  IN  CHRIST.  Thoughts  on  the  Calling  of  God's 
Children  to  be  Holy  as  He  is  Holy.  By  the  Rev. 
Andrew  Murray.  "  This  sacred  theme  is  treated  Scrip- 
turally  and  robustly  without  spurious  sentimentaJism." 

la  THE  MANLINESS  OF  CHRIST,  by  Thomas  Hughes, 
author  of "  Tom  Brown's  School  Days,"  etc.  "Evi- 
dences of  the  sublimest  courage  and  manliness  in 
the  boyhood,  ministry,  and  in  the  last  acts  of  Christ's 
life." 

13  ADDRESSES  TO  YOUNG  MEN,  by  the  Rev.  Henry 

Ward  Ueecher.  Seven  Addresses  on  common  vices  and 
their  results. 

14  THE  PATHWAY  OF  SAFETY,  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Ash- 

ton  Oxenden,  D.D.  Sound  words  of  advice  and  encour- 
agement on  the  text  "  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?" 

15  THE  CHRISTIAN   LIFE,  by  the   Rt.    Rev.   Ashton 

O.xenden,  JJ.  D.  A  beautiful  delineation  of  an  ideal  life 
from  the  conversion  to  the  final  reward. 

16  THE  THRONE  OF  GRACE.     Before  which  the  bur- 

dened  soul  may  cast  itself  on  the  bosom  of  infinite  love 
and  enjoy  in  prayer"  a  peace  which  passeth  all  under- 
standing." 

17  THE   PATHWAY  OF   PROMISE,  by  the  author  of 

"The  Throne  of  Grace."  Thoughts  consolatory  and 
encouraging  to  the  Christian  pilgrim  as  he  journeys 
onward  to  his  heavenly  home. 

18  THE  IMPREGNABLE  ROCK  OF  HOLY  SCRIP- 

TURE, by  the  Rt.  Hon  William  Kwart  Gladstone, 
M  P  The  most  masterly  defence  of  the  truths  of  the 
Bible  extant.  The  author  says  :  The  Christian  Faith 
and  the  Holy  Scriptures  arm  us  with  the  means  of  neu- 
tralizing and  repelling  the  assaults  of  evil  in  and  from 
ourselves. 

19  STEPS  INTO  THE  BLESSED  LIFE, by  the  Rev.  F. 

B.  Meyer,  H.  A.  A  powerful  help  towards  sanciifica- 
tion. 

ao  THE  MESSAGE  OF  PEACE,  by  the  Rev.  Richard  W. 
Church,  D.  I).  Eight  excellent  sermons  on  the  advent 
of  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem  and  his  influence  and  effect 
on  the  world. 

91    JOHN  PLOUGHMAN'S  TALK,  by  the  Rev.  Charles 

H.  Spurgeon. 
sa    JOHN    PLOUGHMAN'S    PICTURES,  by  the   Rev. 

Charles  H.  Spiirgtuii. 
23    THE    CHANGED    CROSS;     AND     OTHER    RE- 

i.iGious  ror:rA3. 


ALTEMUS'  ETERNAL   LIFE  SERIES. 


Selections    from    the    writings    of   well-known    religious 

authors,  beautifully  printed  and  daintily  bound 

with  original  designs  in  silver  and  ink. 

PRICE.  25  CENTS  PER  VOLUME. 


I  ETERNAL    LIFE,  bv  Professor  Henry  Drummond. 

3  LORD,  TEACH  US  TO   PRAY,  by  Rev.  Andrew  Murray. 

3  GOD'S  WORD  AND  GOD'S  WORK,  by  Mania  Luther. 

4  FAITH,  by  '1  ho!ii;.s  Arm. Id. 

5  THE    CREATION    STORY,    by    Honorable    WiUiam    E. 

Gladslonc. 

6  THE    MESSAGE   OF   COMFORT,   by  Rt.  Rev.  Ashton 

7  THE  MESSAGE  OF  PEACE,  bv  Rev   R    W.  Church. 

8  THE     LORD'S     PRAYER    AND    THE    TEN     COM- 

MANDMENTS.  by  Dean  Stanlev. 
g     THE  MEMOIRS  OF  JESUS,  hy  Rev.  Robert  F.  Horton. 

10  HYMNS  OF  PRAISE  AND  GLADNESS,  by  Elisabeth 

R.  Scovil 

11  DIFFICULTIES,  by  Hannah  Whitall  Smith. 

12  GAMBLERS  AND    GAMBLING,  by  Rev.  Henry  Ward 

Beecher. 

13  HAVE  FAITH   IN  GOD,  bv  Rev.  Andrew  Murray. 

14  TWELVE  CAUSES  OF  DISHONESTY,  by  Rev.  Henry 

Ward  Beecher. 

15  THE  CHRIST  IN  WHOM  CHRISTIANS  BELIEVE, 

by  Rt.  Rev.  I'hillips  Brooks. 

16  IN   MY   NAME,  >-y  Rev.  Andrew  Murray. 

17  SIX  "WARNINGS,  by  Rev    Henry  Ward  Beecher. 

18  THE  DUTY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  BUSINESSMAN, 

by  Rt.  Rev.  Phillips  Brooks. 

19  POPULAR     AMUSEMENTS,    by     Rev.     Henry     'Ward 

Beecher. 

20  TRUE  LIBERTY,  bv  Rt.  Rev   Phillips  Brooks. 

21  INDUSTRY    AND    IDLENESS,  by    Rev.    Henry   "Ward 

Beecher 

22  THE    BEAUTY    OF   A   LIFE   OF   SERVICE,   by   Rt. 

Rev.  Phillip-  Brooks. 

23  THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  OUR  LORD,  by  Rev.  A. 

T.  Pirrson,  D    D. 

24  THOUGHT   AND  ACTION,  by  Rt.  Rev.  Phillips  Brooks. 

25  THE  HEAVENLY  VISION,  bv  Rev.  F.  B.  Meyer. 

26  MORNING   STRENGTH,  by  K.lisabeth  R.  Scovil. 

27  FOR  THE  QUIET  HOUR,  by  Edith  V.  Bradt. 

28  EVENING  COMFORT,  bv  Elisabeth  R.  Scovil 

29  WORDS    OF   HELP    FOR   CHRISTIAN   GIRLS,   by 

Rev.  F    B.  Mever. 

30  HOW   TO    STUDY   THE    BIBLE,  by    Rev.    Dwight   L. 

Moody- 

31  EXPECTATION  CORNER,  by  E.  S.  Elliot. 

32  JESSICA'S   FIRST  PRAYER,  by  Hesba  Stratton. 


ALTEMUS'  BELLES-LETTRES  SERIES. 


A    collection   of   Essays    and    Addresses    by  eminent 

Enelish  and  American  Authors,  beautifully 

printed  and   daintily  bound,  with 

original  designs  in  silver. 

PRICE,  25  CENTS  PER  VOLUME. 


1     INDEPENDENCE  DAY,  by  Rev.  Edward  E.  Hale. 

a     THE  SCHOLAR  IN  POLITICS,  by  Hon.  Richard  Clney. 

3  THE  YOUNG  MAN  IN  BUSINESS,  bv  Edward  W.  Bok. 

4  THE  YOUNG  MAN  AND  THE  CHURCH,  by  Edward 

\V.  BoW. 

5  THE  SPOILS  SYSTEM,  by  Hon.  Carl  Schurz. 

6  CONVERSATION,  by  Thomas  DeQuincey. 

7  SWEETNESS  AND  LIGHT,  by  iMatthew  Arnold. 

8  WORK,  by  John  Ruskin. 

9  NATURE  AND  ART,  by  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson. 

10  THE    USE   AND    MISUSE    OF   BOOKS,   by   Frederic 

Harrison. 

11  THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE:   ITS  ORIGIN,  MEAN- 

ING   AND     APPLICATION,    by    IVof.    John    Bach 
McMastcr  (University  of  Pennsylvania). 

12  THE  DESTINY  OF   MAN,  by  Sir  John  Lubbock. 

13  LOVE  AND   FRIENDSHIP,  by  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson. 

14  RIP  VAN   WINKLE,  by  Washington  Irving. 

15  ART,  POETRY  AND   MUSIC,  by  Sir  John  Lubbock. 

16  THE  CHOICE  OF  BOOKS,  by  Sir  John  Lubbock. 

17  MANNERS,  by  Ralph  WalJo  Emerson. 

18  CHARACTER,  by  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson. 

19  THE    LEGEND    OF    SLEEPY    HOLLOW,  by  Wash- 

ington Irving. 

20  THE  BEAUTIES  OF  NATURE,  by  Sir  John  Lubbock. 
31     SELF   RELIANCE,  bv  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson. 

22  THE  DUTY  OF  HAPPINESS,  by  Sir  John  Lubbock. 

23  SPIRITUAL   LAWS,  by  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson. 
34     OLD  CHRISTMAS,  by  Washington  Irving 

25    HEALTH,    WEALTH    AND    THE    BLESSING    OF 

FRIENDS,  by  Sir  John  Lubbock. 
36     INTELLECT,  by  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson. 

27  WHY    AMERICANS   DISLIKE   ENGLAND,  by  Prof. 

Geo    P.    Adams  (  Yalei 

28  THE  HIGHER  EDUCATION  AS  A  TRAINING  FOR 

BUSINESS,   by   Prof.   Harry  Pratt  Judson  (University 
of  Chicago!. 

29  MISS  TOOSEY'S  MISSION. 

30  LADDIE. 

31  J.  COLE,  by  Emma  Gellibrand. 


HENRY  ALTEMUS'  PUBLICATIONS. 


ALTEMUS'    NEW    ILLUSTRATED 
VADEMECUM    SERIES. 


Masterpieces  of  English  and  American  Literature,  Handy 

Volume  Size,  Large  Type  Editions.    Each  Volume 

Contains  Illuminated  Title  Pages,  and  Portrait 

of  Author  and  Numerous  Engravings 


Full  Cloth,  ivory  finish,  ornamental  inlaid  sides  and  back, 

boxed  ...  40 

Full  White  Vellum,  full  silver  and  monotint,  boxed  ....      50 

I    CRANFORD,  by  Mrs.  Gaskell. 

a    A  WINDOW  IN  THRUMS,  by  J.  M.  Barrie. 


3  RAB   AND  HIS   FRIENDS,  MARJORIE  FLEM- 

ING,  ETC.,  by  John  Brown,  M.  D. 

4  THE  VICAR  OF  WAKEFIELD,  by  Oliver  Goldsmith. 


5  THE  IDLE  THOUGHTS  OF  AN  IDLE  FELLO\V. 

by  Jerome  K.  Jerome.     "  A  book  for  an  idle  holiday.' 

6  TALES  FROM  SHAKSPEARE,  by  Charles  and  Mary 

Lamb,  with  an  introduction  by  the  Rev.  Alfred  Ainger, 
M.  D. 

7  SESAME  AND  LILIES,  by  John  Ruskin. 

Three   l-ectures — I.  Of  the   King's  Treasures.     II.  Of 
Queen's  Garden.     III.  Of  the  ^lyster>■  of  Life. 

8  THE  ETHICS  OF  THE  DUST,  by  John  Ruskin.    Ten 

lectures  to  little  housewives  on  llic  elements  ot  crystali- 
zation. 

9  THE  PLEASURES  OF  LIFE,  by  Sir  John  Lubbock. 

Complete  in  one  volume. 

10    THE  SCARLET  LETTER,  by  Nathaniel  Hawthorne. 

XI     THE    HOUSE    OF   THE    SEVEN     GABLES,    by 

Nathaniel  Hawthorne. 

12    MOSSES  FROM  AN   OLD    MANSE,  by  Nathaniel 
Hawthorne. 


HENRY  ALTEMUS'  PUBLICATIONS. 


Altemus'  New  Illustrated  Vademecum  Series — 
continued. 


13    TWICE    TOLD    TALES,  by    Nathaniel    Hawthorne. 


14  THE    ESSAYS    OF    FRANCI'^    fl^ORD)    BACON 

■WITH  MEMOIRS  AND  KOTEb. 

15  ESSAYS,  First  Series,  by  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson. 

16  ESSAYS,  Second  Series,  by  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson. 

17  REPRESENTATIVE  MEN,  by  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson. 

Mental  portraits  each  representing  a  class.  i.  The 
Philosophtr.  2.  'IheMvslic  ^.  TheSkeptic.  4.  The 
Poet.     5    The  Man  of  the  World.     6.  The  Writer. 

x8  THOUGHTS  OF  THE  EMPEROR  MARCUS 
AURELIUS  ANTONINUS,  translated  by  George 
Long. 

19  THE  DISCOURSES  OF  EPICTETUS  WITH  THE 
ENCHIRIDION,  translated  by  George  Long. 


50  OF  THE   IMITATION   OF    CHRIST,    by  Thomas 

A'Kempis.     Four  books  complete  in  one  voliune. 

51  ADDRESSES,  by   Professor   Henry   Drummond.     The 

(ireatest  Thing  in  the  World  ;  Pax  Vobiscum  ;  The 
Changed  Life;  How  to  Ltam  How;  Dealing  With 
Doubt ;  Preparation  for  Learning;  What  is  a  Chris- 
tian ;  The  Study  of  the  Uible ;  A  Talk  on  Books. 

aa  LETTERS.  SENTENCES  AND  MAXIMS,  by  Ixjrd 
Chesterfield  Masterpieces  of  good  taste,  good  writing 
and  t;<>od  sense. 

33  REVERIES  OF  A  BACHELOR,  A  book  of  the 
heart,     liy  Ik  Marvel. 

24     DREAM  LIFE,  by  Ik  Marvel.    A  companion  to  "  Keve- 

nes  of  a  Bachelor." 

as     SARTOR  RESARTUS,  by  Thomas  Carlyle 

36  HEROES  AND  HERO  WORSHIP,  by  Thomas  Car- 

lyle. 

37  UNCLE  TOM'S   CABIN,  by  Harriet   Beecher  Stowe. 
a8    ESSAYS  OF  ELIA,  by  Charles  Lamb. 


HENRY  ALTEMUS'  PUBLICATIONS. 


Altemus'  New  Illustrated  Vademecum  Series — 
continued. 


39  MY  POINT  OF  VIE\A/.  Representative  selections  from 
the  works  of  Professor  Henry  Drummond  by  Wiliium 
Shepard. 

30  THE  SKETCH  BOOK,  by  Washington  Irving.     Com- 

plete. 

31  KEPT    FOR    THE    MASTER'S    USE,    by    Frances 

Ridley  Havergal. 

3a     LUCILE,  by  Owen  Meredith. 

33  LALLA  ROOKH,  by  Thomas  Moore. 

34  THE   LADY  OF   THE   LAKE,  by  Sir  Walter  Scott. 

35  MARMION,  by  Sir  Walter  Scott. 

36  THE   PRINCESS;    AND   MAUD,  by  Alfred  (Lord) 

Tennyson. 

37  CHILDE     HAROLD'S    PILGRIMAGE,    by    Lord 

Byron. 

38  IDYLLS  OF  THE  KING,  by  Alfred  (Lord)  Tennyson. 

39  EVANGELINE,  by  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow. 

40  VOICES  OF  THE  NIGHT  AND  OTHER  POEMS, 

by  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow. 

41  THE   QUEEN  OF   THE   AIR,  by  John  Ruskin,    A 

study  of  the  Greek  myths  of  cloud  and  storm. 

43  THE  BELFRY  OF  BRUGES  AND  OTHER 
POEMS,  by   Henry   Wadsworth   Longfellow. 

43  POEMS,  Volume  I,  by  John  Greenleaf  Whittier. 

44  POEMS,  Volume  II,  by  John  Greenle.-if  Whittier. 


HENRY  ALTEMUS'  PUBLICATIONS. 


Altemus'  New  Illustrated  Vademecutn  Series- 
continued. 


45  THE   RAVEN;  AND    OTHER    POEMS,  by   Edgar 

Allan  Poe. 

46  THANATOPSIS;AND  OTHER  POEMS, by  William 

Culleii  Bryant. 

47  THE  LAST  LEAP;AND  OTHER  POEMS,  by  Oliver 

Wendell  Holmes. 

48  THE  HEROES   OR   GREEK   FAIRY   TALES,  by 

Charles  Kingsley. 

49  A  WONDER  BOOK,  by  Nathaniel  Hawthorne. 


50  UNDINE,  by  de  La  Motte  Fouque. 

51  ADDRESSES,  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Phillips  Brooks, 

52  BALZAC'S    SHORTER    STORIES,   by  Honore    de 

Balzac. 

53  TWO  YEARS   BEFORE   THE  MAST,  by  Richard 

H    Dana,  Jr. 

54  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.     An  Autobiography. 

55  THE  LAST    ESSAYS   OF   ELIA,  by  Charles  Lamb. 

56  TOM     BROWN'S     SCHOOL    DAYS,    by    Thomas 

Hughes. 

57  WEIRD  TALES,  by  Edgar  Allan  Poe. 

58  THE  CROWN  OF  WILD  OLIVE,  by  John  Ruskin. 

Three  lectures  on  Work,  Traffic  and  War. 

59  NATURAL  LAW  IN  THE  SPIRITUAL  WORLD, 

by  Professor  Henry  Drummond. 

60  ABBE    CONSTANTIN,   by    Ludovic    Halevy. 

61  MANON  LESCAUT,  by  Abbe  Prevost. 


HENRY  ALTEMUS'  PUBLICATIONS. 


Altemus'  New  Illustrated  Vademecum  Series- 
continued. 


6a  THE  ROMANCE  OF  A  POOR  YOUNG  MAN,  by 

Octave  Feuillet. 

(13    BLACK  BEAUTY,  by  Anna  Sewell. 

64  CAMILLE,  by  Alexander  Dumas,  Jr. 

65  THE  LIGHT  OF  ASIA,  by  Sir  Edwin  Arnold. 

65    THE    LAYS    OF    ANCIENT    ROME,  by    Thomas 
Babington  Macaulay. 

67  THE  CONFESSIONS  OF  AN  ENGLISH  OPIUM- 

EATER,  by  Thomas  De  Quincey. 

68  TREASURE  ISLAND,  by  Robert  L.  Stevenson. 

69  CARMEN,  by  Prosper  Merimee. 

70  A  SENTIMENTAL  JOURNEY,  by  Laurence  Sterne. 

71  THE    BLITHEDALE    ROMANCE,    by    Nathaniel 

Hawthorne. 

72  BAB  BALLADS,  AND  SAVOY  SONGS,  by  W.  H. 

Gilbert. 

73  FANCHON.THE  CRICKET,  by  George  Sand. 

74  POEMS,  by  James  Russell  Lowell. 

75  JOHN  PLOUGHMAN'S  TALK,  by  the  Rev.  Charles 

H.  Spurgeon. 

76  JOHN    PLOUGHMAN'S   PICTURES,  by  the   Rev. 

Charles  H.  Spurgeon. 

77  THE     MANLINESS     OF     CHRIST,     by    Thomas 

Hughes. 

78  ADDRESSES  TO  YOUNG  MEN,  by  the  Rev.  Henry 

Ward  Beecher. 

79  THE      AUTOCRAT      OF     THE      BREAKFAST 

TABLE,  by  Oliver  Wendell   Holmes. 


HENRY  ALTEMUS'  PUBLICATIONS 


Altemus'  New  Illustrated  Vadcmccum  Series- 
continued. 


80  MULVANEY  STORIES,  by  Rudyard  Kipling. 

8x  BALLADS,  by  Rudyard  Kipling. 

82  MORNING  THOUGHTS,  by  Frances  Ridley  Havergal. 

83  TEN  NIGHTS  IN  A  BAR  ROOM,  by  T.  S.  Arthur. 

84  EVENING  THOUGHTS,  by  Frances  Ridley  Havergal. 

85  IN  MEMORIAM,  by  Alfred  (Lord)  Tennyson. 

86  COMING  TO  CHRIST,  by  Frances  Ridley  Havergal. 

87  HOUSE  OF  THE  WOLF,  by  Stanley  Weyman. 


AMERICAN  POLITICS  (non-Partisan),  by  Hon.  Thomas 

V.  Cooper.  A  history  of  all  the  Political  Parties  with  their 
views  and  records  on  all  important  questions.  All  political 
platforms  from  the  beginning  to  date.  Great  Speeches  on 
Great  issues.  P.irliamentary  Practice  and  t.ibulated  history 
of  chronological  events.  A  library  without  this  work  is  de- 
ficient. 8vo.,  750  pages.  Cloth,  I3. 00.  Full  Sheep  Library 
style,  $^  00. 

NAMES  FOR  CHILDREN,  by  Elisabeth  Robinson  Scovil, 
author  of  "The  Care  of  Children,"  "Preparation  for 
Motherhood."  In  family  life  there  is  no  question  of  greater 
weight  or  importance  than  naming  the  baby.  The  author 
gives  much  good  advice  and  many  suggestions  on  the  sub- 
ject.    Cloth,  i2mo.,  ;f  .40. 

TRIF  AND  TRIXY,byJohn  Habberton,  author  of  "Helen's 
Babies."  The  story  is  replete  with  vivid  and  spirited 
scenes;  and  is  incomparably  the  happiest  and  most  de- 
lightftil  work  Mr.  Habberton  has  yet  written.  Cloth, 
i2mo.,  $  .50. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


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